


Gohan in Underland

by Yakuman



Category: Dragon Ball, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Awkwardness, Four year old walking around hugging monsters, Innocence, Minor Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Retelling, Tags for the sake of tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-04-28 19:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5103311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yakuman/pseuds/Yakuman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gohan accidentally falls through Mt. Ebott and arrives in the Underground. This four year old boy must now try to make it through this strange new place to get back home. Join him in his adventure from the Ruins to New Home. Joined by some friends along the way, will Gohan be able to make it out of the Underground?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was setting. Soon he would hear his mother calling for him for wanted to explore the rest of this mountain before then. He had found this large strange height that felt different than any of the others in Mt. Paozu. Near Dragon Rock, just before the dinosaur settlement, he chased a small squirrel across the stream bed to this place. Now he was near the top, eager to be able to see the view. Oh the stories he'd tell his daddy today! He dodged lions, made nice with a dinosaur, and even climbed this huge mountain!

Giggling, Gohan ran past the woods near the summit. He was had almost reached the top! Darting past a warning sign, he jumped to the very tip top of the mountain. His tiny feet securely on rock, he looked out to the horizon. This view was amazing! It was almost as great at the biggest mountain his daddy took him to see! Turning around, he saw a wide, gaping chasm. Nervous, he backed away. He didn't want to accidentally fall down it.

An eerie voice penetrated his mind. "Go down."

Shaken and confused, Gohan retreated further. He didn't like this adventure anymore. Turning around, he resolved to dash away the way he came. A gnarled vine caught his foot, causing him to stumble backwards into the direction of the hole.

"No, no! No!" cried Gohan, tears in his eyes. The waved his arms desperately trying to regain his balance, but it failed. The boy fell backwards; rolling into the hole. No matter what the young boy did, he continued to tumble into the chasm. He fell in, and a blinding white filled his vision. Then, he blacked out.

* * *

 

It wasn't until he woke up that he realized he was ontop of a bed of golden flowers. He didn't seem to be hurt; fortunately there wasn't a bruise or scratch to be seen. The golden flowers must have broken his fall. Gohan got up, looking around nervously.

It was dark. The only light in the room was directly on top of him and the flowers. Looking up, he saw stalactites covering the entirety of the ceiling.

"Hello…? Anybody…?" He cried out even louder. "Mommy! Daddy!"

Usually, whenever he yelled out; his dad would save him within minutes. This was not one of those times. There was no way of climbing out, either with the stalactites covering the way. Gohan saw a path leading somewhere. He regained his composure, maybe this was the way out?

He passed through what clearly was an arched door. Surely there was somebody who could help him if there were manmade structures like doors around. Upon walking into the next room, it was much like the last room. He saw a single flower. It stood tall, had a white stamen with yellow petals. On the stamen of the flower was a face. On that face there was a smile..

"Howdy!"

Gohan hestitated to approach. A talking, smiling flower? He's never seen one of those…

"I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower! Hmm. You're new to the underground, aren'tcha?

He meekly nodded his head, still nervous.

The flower continued. "Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do."

Wiping the tears from his face, Gohan smiled a little in response. He mustered out, "T-Thank you."

He felt something float out of his chest. It was a little pink heart. T-That's supposed to be inside of him!

"See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!"

Gohan twitched. This was his soul? Shouldn't that be inside of him though? Testing something, he was able to move his soul around at will. While he could do that, he was able to move his physical body as well. This was cool, but it was scary. He felt vulnerable.

Flowey smiled genuinely at the boy. "Down here, you're measured by your soul, like how you are right now. It starts off weak, but it can grow strong if you get a lot of LV."

He was scared about this new place. He was scared about this new experience. He'd have to ask his mom to forgive him for talking to strangers… So much was going through his head. Trembling, he continued to watch the talking flower.

Flowey giggled. "You might be wondering 'What's LV'. Why, it stands for LOVE! Silly! You want some love don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" He winked at Gohan playfully.

Sniffling, Gohan nodded. He just wanted to go home, and maybe this flower would help him if he asked nicely and got some love?

Tiny dots surrounded Flowey. "Down here, LOVE is shared through little white friendliness pellets! Catch as many as you can!" The pellets suddenly went flying towards Gohan.

Panicking, he dodged every single projectile with his soul. He started tearing up again. Too fast! Everything was happening too fast!

Flowey's grin seemed a little strained now. "Hey, buddy. You missed them."

He finally sputtered something to the flower, realizing that he hasn't even introduced himself yet. "M-My name is Gohan! S-Sorry, my mommy told me never to t-take anything from strangers…" He covered his face in embarrassment. This flower surely hated him now.

The flower's expression lifted again. "But Gohan, I'm not a stranger!"

The boy peeked at the flower. "You're… not?"

Laughing softly, the flower got a little closer. "That's right. I'm not a stranger, I'm your friend! You can trust me!"

Gohan stared at his hands intently as he considered this, his cheeks coloring slightly. "I-I've never had a friend before…"

Smiling wider, Flowey conjured up more friendliness pellets. "We'll be even better friends when I give you some LOVE. It'll make you and me so happy!"

Gohan looked up at Flowey with hope. "Really? Can you help me get out of here too?"

Nodding, the flower said, "Of course, my dear friend Gohan." At that, he launched some more pellets at the boy.

Gohan was thrilled! He couldn't wait to tell his dad about the new friend he made! A talking flower too! Laughing, the boy held out his arms. The soul made contact with Flowey's pellets.

He was met with searing pain. The impact was so forceful his hat with the four starred dragonball was launched to the back of the room. Gohan himself was knocked flat on his back, winded. He looked up at the flower, who was now wearing a very unfriendly smile on its face.

"You idiot."

Gohan's eyes welled up with fresh tears. "O-ow! That hurt! But... I... I thought we were f-friends…"

The flower spoke in a snarling voice. "In this world, it's kill or be killed. Who would ever want to be friends with someone as ugly as you?!"

And then, Gohan's soul was surrounded by a dense ring of friendliness pellets. He stared at them in dispair, knowing escape was impossible.

"DIE," hissed the flower gleefully.

The bullets-for that is what they truly were, he realized-flew towards him with a sadistic slowness. He closed his eyes and covered his face in his hands, bawling. The flower laughter rang in his ears as scenes from his four years of life flashed before his eyes. His mom and dad would never see him again.

But instead of more pain, he heard the flower give a yelp of surprise. Peeking through splayed fingers, he saw that the flower was gone.

Standing before him now was a tall white creature with two short, curved horns sprouting from the crown of her head, and long, flat ears draped over her shoulders. Gohan's first thought was that she looked rather like a goat, and yet she stood on two legs like a human, and wore a long-sleeved blue and white dress that reached down to her ankles. Just as mystifying was the aura of fire that crackled around her closed fist.

"What a terrible creature," the goat-like beast spoke in a warm, feminine voice. "Torturing such a poor, innocent youth…"

It was clear that she had saved him from the flower. He also felt much better; had she healed him too? But Gohan's fear had not eased. Gulping, he crawled backwards away from this new, strange person.

The goat's face softened at his movements. "Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins." She approached him slowly, extending a paw to him.

Gohan's expression broke, and he began to cry anew. "H-He told me he was my f-friend!" This lady seemed nice, but so had the flower at first. How could he trust her when she might turn on him too?

To his surprise, he felt himself gently picked up by Toriel and held against her chest. "Shh. There, there, my child. It's okay." As she rocked him patiently, petting his hair with soothing strokes, eventually his tears dried and his sobs became an occasional hiccup. "Good. Now come, let me lead you through the catacombs, okay?" She set him back onto the ground so that he could walk on his own two feet.

Gohan sniffled and composed himself. He retrieved his fallen hat and followed behind the kindly woman. Up some stairs and through a door, she stopped. Inside was a dimly lit room, a closed door, and some rocks. He was intimidated by the dark hallway, and felt the urge to hold on to the hem of Toriel's flowing robe.

"Welcome to your new home, my child."

New… home? Wait, what did she mean by that?

Toriel proceeded to step on each rock, which all pressed downwards like pressure plates. Not all of them, only some of them. The door opened. "This is how you go through this room my child, just make a square like this, okay?" She smiled genially at Gohan, who only nodded meekly. "Come now."

The next room was larger, and much more brightly lit. Gohan clung close to Toriel, who regarded him in an amused manner.

"How old are you, dear?" She asked sweetly.

Gohan took a moment to register the question. "Um… four!"

Toriel pat his head affectionately. "In that case, I'll just take you through these puzzles. When you're a little bit older, I'll teach you to complete them on your own, okay?"

He nodded again, before realizing again what she had implied. He couldn't stay here; he had to go home! His mother and father would be worried about him if he wasn't back soon! But, as he followed behind Toriel and watched her activate various switches on the walls to disengage spike traps blocking their path, he felt he couldn't say this to her yet.

They made their way past the spikes, now retracted into the floor. In the next room stood a stuffed dummy with a black button eye. Toriel walked over to the dummy. "As a human living in the underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a fight. While you're in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation!"

His mother had also taught him to resolve conflicts with his words first, so this made sense to Gohan.

Toriel nodded. "Yes, stall for time. I'll come to resolve the conflict. Practice with this dummy."

"It won't… come to life or anything will it?"

She giggled. "Oh my child, that's just silly. No, it's just a dummy. Go on."

He walked up to the dummy. Suddenly he got that feeling again. His soul floated out on its own. He couldn't force it back in, his hands just phased through it.

He stared up at the dummy. Shakily, he waved at it. "H-Hello mister… nice day today?"

Toriel beamed at him. "Ah! Very good, my child. I dare say you'll fit in just fine here."

Suddenly, the feeling disappeared. His soul floated back into his body as quickly as it floated out. Was this something only found in the underground? She walked off into the exit. Gohan followed suit after waving goodbye to the dummy.

Toriel took his hand into her much larger, furry one, and he found he didn't mind much. He grew nervous, however, when he saw that they were headed towards a hallway filled completely with spike traps. Toriel didn't seem to even notice, and continued to walk forward at a brisk pace.

"Woah! Miss Toriel! Please watch out!"

She only giggled. "My child, you're adorable. Do not worry, the spikes will not harm us. We simply have to tread on the correct path."

And indeed, as Toriel weaved her way through the corridor, the spikes sank into the ground on their own with every step she took, popping back into place once they had passed. Finally, the two of them reached the normal, magenta tiles again, and Gohan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Toriel could be trusted after all.

The next room looked long. It was a clear walk from one end to another. He felt her hand drop his. Curious, he looked at her.

"My child… you have done well. However, I have a difficult request to ask of you. I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself."

He tilted his head in confusion. What was she talking about?

"Forgive me," she said, before suddenly walking ahead without him at a surprisingly quick pace. She was so fast! Before Gohan had even realized the situation, she was out of sight.

Why… why would she suddenly leave him all alone like this? Gohan hugged himself uncertainly and took a small step forward. She had been so nice, so... surely he was safe here? It was just a hallway. Willing himself to be brave, he continued on. With each passing step, he felt more in control of the situation. And yet, the thought that maybe he wouldn't be able to go back home made a lump form in his throat. He liked Toriel, but he just couldn't stay here forever! Somehow, he had to find a way back home. A few stray tears trailed their way down his cheeks, but he refused to cry again.

It was an extremely long hallway, but before he knew it, he made it to the end. Toriel stepped out from behind a huge white pillar, much to Gohan's surprise.

"Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not l-" She noticed his tears and immediately went to console him. "Oh dear, are you alright?"

Sniffling, Gohan spoke. "I-I'm okay… h-honest I am." He wiped his tears away. He wanted to tell her how he missed his mom and dad, but felt this wasn't the time nor the place.

Toriel released the young boy. "My child… I was here the whole time, behind this pillar. I thank you for trusting me. There was an important reason for this… you must be independent at certain times." She thought about it for a moment. She wanted to make the boy a pie, but after that display, she couldn't very well leave him.

The boy composed himself again. He smiled at her gently.

She sighed, returning the smile. "I believe in you. I must now go attend to some business. Please remain here; it's dangerous to explore by yourself. Oh, I have an idea. Please, take this cellphone. If you ever need me, just call, okay?" She pressed a plastic flip-phone into his small hand.

Gohan stared at the device. He had never seen one before, and Toriel briefly showed him how to use it. He nodded, feeling a bit better about things. Although he wanted to beg her to not go, or to let him come with her, he forced down his fear. As long as he has the cell phone, he felt he could wait for Toriel here until she returned.

Giving him a hug, Toriel whispered, "Be good, alright?" With that, she exited the room, leaving Gohan truly alone.


	2. Chapter 2

He stood there waiting. Eventually, he got a call from Toriel. She told him it would take her a little bit longer. The calls kept coming, and eventually Gohan started getting phone calls from a dog who took her phone. How long was he going to wait? It must have been an hour now since she left him. His mom and dad must be worried sick. It might even be night time outside!

Summoning up his courage, Gohan entered the next room. Upon entering, he met a frog. Curiously, he approached it.

"Hello, Mr. Frog." Gohan said brightly.

The frog peered at him curiously. "Ribbit, Ribbit. Excuse me human."

Gohan practically fell backwards. A talking flower, a talking humanoid goat lady… Did everything here talk?

The frog gave a croaky laugh. "I have some advice for you, about battling monsters. If you act a certain way, monsters won't want to fight you."

Gohan nodded nervously. "Y-Yeah… Miss Toriel told me about talking to them…"

Smiling, the frog continued. "Yes, Miss Toriel taught you well. Do not forget my words human, have some mercy, will you not? Ribbit. Ribbit." With that, the frog hopped past Gohan.

Looking around, this wasn't a large room. A room directly to his left, and a hallway farther down. He decided it was time to explore. In the room to his left, he found some candy in a large bowl. He made sure to take only one as the sign instructed. Leaving and heading towards the hallway, he felt his soul come out of his body again. In front of him was a flying moth with a frown on its face.

Remembering his instruction, Gohan lifted his hand in greeting. "Hel-"

But the moth cried hysterically and flew away; leaving Gohan feeling bad for what he did. His soul returned to his body.

This place wasn't all that bad, he thought. It might be strange, but everything takes getting used to. Upon entering the next room, he felt that sensation again.

A small, round black creature approached him. It looked scary, with its devil horns and single huge eye. Gohan shook, t-this was a real monster!

The small creature looked Gohan dead on, then turned away, sniffing sadly. "P-Please don't pick on me…" He said in dry, low voice.

The fear dissipated. Was this creature more afraid of Gohan than he was of it? Gohan swallowed the lump in his young throat. "I-I would never pick on you, mister."

The eye suddenly stared at Gohan. It looked joyful. "Finally… somebody gets it…"

Did he do it? No, his soul was still out of his body. Converstation. He has to make conversation to make nice with the monsters! "Uhm, I'm Gohan. What's your name?"

His soul returned him at that moment. The battle was over? The dark monster extended out a small, clawed hand. "My name… is Loox. Loox Eyewalker."

Gohan shook his hand. He smiled genially at Loox. "Nice to meet you, Loox!"

The small creature blushed. "Is that so? I've… I've never seen you here before."

This monster wasn't so bad even though he looked terribly scary, especially his teeth. "I just got here. I'm trying to find a way out of here. Miss Toriel left me in a r-"

Look grabbed Gohan's hand and pulled him past the room. "I can take you! To her and her house!"

Startled, Gohan kept up with Loox's pace. He was an awkward little monster, but he was a little like Gohan. Maybe he was even his age? Gohan had no problems following Loox, until Loox suddenly fell through the hole.

Gohan peered down the hole. "Loox! Are you okay?!"

As quickly as Loox fell, he appeared on the other side of the room, coming from a hole in the wall. "Gohan, you can go down there to come up here."

The four year old was nervous. But… if his new ally told him he could get to the other side by dropping, he would do it! Jumping down the hole, he landed on some red leaves. He saw an upward slide contraption that Loox must have used. Within no time, he was again face to face with Loox.

A big toothy grin spread across Loox's face. "Good. Let's go."

Loox was a funny guy. Immediately after entering the room, he pushed a rock on top of a pressure plate without a word. He really knew the ins and outs of the place. How long has he been here? The next room was a room full of cracked floors. Loox grabbed Gohan's hand and lead him through, they didn't fall through once. All the while, Loox hummed a happy song. Clearly, he was enjoying himself.

They made their way to the next room. Three large rocks across three large pressure places. Gohan remembered this puzzle, he just needed to push the rocks onto the plate. However, Loox whispered to a rock, who prompty groaned in response. To Gohan's surprise, the rock moved itself onto the plate! What was this place?!

Gohan could have solved these puzzles on his own after a while. Granted he had no idea how the falling through the floor puzzles work, he would be able to piece it together eventually. It was nice having Loox around to walk him through everything. They passed through a mouse hole, and eventually, they met a ghost lying on a pile of red leaves.

Loox growled at the ghost. "Napstablook's just sleeping."

"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz."

Gohan poked at the sleeping ghost. "I don't think so. I think he's just making noises." He kept poking the ghost. Eventually, his soul floated out of him again, and the ghost faced him. A deadpan expression plastered on his face.

"Uh… hello." Gohan said, nervously.

The ghost's eyes watered. "oooh… hello…" Suddenly, the ghost started crying, tears barely missing his soul.

Why was he crying, Gohan wondered. "Uhm… are you okay?"

"oh…. yes… I'm okay…." The ghost replied, tears streaming down and raining onto Gohan's soul. One of them managed to hit him. It hurt a little.

Gohan knew that expression. Whenever he cried, he would tell everyone that it's okay. In truth, however, he always wanted a warm hug. He started sniffling himself. "H-Hey, cheer up, Mr. Ghost!"

The ghost's expression shifted. He didn't cry anymore, but he only looked a little better. It was enough for Gohan to notice. "Um... everything is going to be okay!"

The ghost's expression turned to a smile now. It was working! "Yeah! That's how you do it!" Gohan cheered excitedly.

The ghost laughed softly. "H-Hey… let me show you something." He began crying again, but the tears fell upwards, combining into a top hat on top of his head. "I call it "dapperblook", do you like it?"

Gohan giggled and clapped his hands in response. What a cool trick! The top hat wearing Napstablook smiled hard. With that, Gohan's soul retreated back into him.

"oh gee… I usually come to the ruins because nobody comes here… but today I met somebody nice…"

Gohan patted the ghost warmly. "You're a fun person, I met a lot of nice people today too!"

The ghost looked down sadly. "oh… I guess you don't need me if you made so many friends… I'll just go…" The ghost began to fade away.

"Wait!" Gohan yelled out. The ghost stopped midfade. "We can be friends too!"

Considering this, the ghost blushed slightly. But regardless, he completely faded away. Feeling dejected, Gohan sighed.

Loox patted him on the back. "Are we… friends?" Loox's voice shook as he asked.

He turned to face Loox. That had definitely surprised the young boy, but the answer was very simple. "Of course!" Exclaimed Gohan.

Blushing, Loox approached Gohan and gave him a big hug. Gohan felt a little confused at this sudden occurrence, but he hugged his new friend back. Loox's voice was soft. "Thank you."

The underground was quite large. Gohan was led by Loox to the next room. It was a large hallway with three frogs spread apart. Gohan wanted to talk to these frogs, but Loox looked jealous when he spoke to the first frog. They quickly departed without speaking to the others.

Gohan's soul ejected itself once more, this time to a vegetable with a face on it. He didn't know fully what to do in this situation, but elected to try to talk to it. It's worked every time so far. "Um… hello?"

"Plants Can't Talk Dummy." The vegetable said cheerfully, before throwing a potato at both Gohan and Gohan's soul suddenly.

Rubbing his bruised head, Gohan said irritably. "But you just spoke!"

"We Still Can't Talk Dummy." The vegetable said musically, throwing a pumpkin at Gohan and his soul. This time, they both dodged nimbly.

Gohan bit his lip. Talking wasn't doing anything. Loox pulled on his sleeve to get his attention. "Gohan, pat your belly at Vegetoid and then don't move."

Obeying his friend, he did so. Vegetoid sang out, "Eat your greens!" Before throwing a green potato at the soul. It felt… better. Did that heal him a little?

His soul returned to him, the Vegetoid disappeared. Gohan blinked awkwardly. So talking things out wasn't the only way to make monsters like him? He'll have to remember that.

Loox guided him through the rest of the puzzles. Loox even dropped down the floor to hit a switch and come back. He was a really good friend, Gohan thought. He would have to make it up to him one day. Past the rotating room, there was a hall practically covered in red leaves.

Loox finally stopped and turned to his new best friend.

"Here it is. Just straight up is Miss Toriel's house." He said, shakily.

Gohan looked at the red leaf covered passage. He started to walk towards it, but he noticed his friend wasn't following him anymore.

"Um, Loox? Are you coming?" Gohan asked, a bit confused.

Loox shook his head desperately. "I'm too intimated by her. What If she picks on me?"

Gohan considered this seriously, then giggled. "Oh, she won't! She's a nice lady!" He beckoned his friend over and walked past the red leaves. To his delight, Loox was now following him.

In the middle of this next room was a giant blackened tree with red leaves all around it. Loox finally caught up, shivering in fear. This was the first time Gohan was the brave one of the two. Or really, Gohan had always been the scared one in any situation. He grabbed Loox's clawed hand, and guided him past the tree. Without warning, Toriel came out of the opposite end of the room.

She was panting, rushing to them. "Oh dear, oh my. That took much longer than I thought. I have to get back to my chi-" She stared at the sight of Gohan holding hands with his new friend Loox. "Oh! How did you get here my child? And who is this? Oh my, you're hurt!"

She put her hands on Gohan. The bruise the potato gave him vanished and now he felt much better. She patted him down, taking care not to hurt him. "Oh, I should not have left you alone for so long." She turned to Loox, who shrunk away at her gaze. "Did you help this human child?"

Loox squirmed in place. "Y-Yes ma'm… please don't pick on me…"

She gave the little monster a pat on the head. "There there, I would never hurt one so innocent and good. Come, the both of you. I have a surprise for the both of you!

She returned back out the way she came, beckoning the two of them. Gohan smiled and followed. Loox walked alongside him, blushing slightly. "She's really nice like you said, Gohan." Loox said quietly. Toriel's ears twitched hearing that, making Loox blush even harder.

Gohan nodded as he walked. "Yeah, she's a really nice lady. I wonder what her surprise is."

Walking in the next door lead into a brightly lit room. It an actual house now! Gohan and Loox looked around in amazement, to which Toriel giggled.

"Boys, do you smell that? Surprise! It's a Butterscotch-cinnamon pie! I thought we might celebrate Gohan's arrival." She practically sang out.

Gohan and Loox sniffed the air like dogs. It smelled amazing! Gohan felt excited. It was like his mom's pies she would make on special occasions!

Toriel continued. "Hehe, I want you to have a nice time living here. So I'll hold off on the snail pie for now. Now my child, come, I have another surprise just for you." She beckoned Gohan to follow.

Gohan held Loox's hand and dragged him with. A nice time living here, she said. It wasn't a bad place, but he needed to go home. His mom and dad would be terribly upset if he just disappeared. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he reached Toriel.

She beamed at Gohan. "This is it, my child. A room of your own. I hope you like it." Gohan looked at the yellow painted door with Loox. He felt a warm, gentle hand gliding across his head comforting him. Gohan wanted to cry. He needed to go home, but he couldn't tell her that now. She was being so nice to him! Loox patted Gohan's back. Catching himself, he regained his composure. He turned up to Toriel and gave her a big smile. "Thank you."

She smiled back at Gohan. Then, Toriel made a small noise. "Do you smell something burning? Uhm, you two make yourselves at home!" She ran towards the kitchen, Loox gigging as she ran past.

They entered what was now called 'Gohan's room'. It was very spacious for the small boy. There were a bunch of cool toys that Gohan would love to play with. It was all pretty dusty, and the bed was very inviting. He sat on the bed while Loox examined Gohan's new toys.

"These are neat." Loox breathed out, handling a robot looking action figure.

Gohan kicked the air from his new bed. "Hey Loox?"

The monster turned to Gohan. "Yes?"

Gohan signed, rubbing his shoulder absentmindedly. "Where are we, really?"

Loox put the slightly dusty toy down. "She said you are human, yes?"

For the next few minutes, Loox told Gohan the story of the Underground and the Ruins. Long ago, there was a war that the monsters lost. They were all banished into the Underground. They all made their way to the very end of the Underground and set up a home there. This home is what they called the Ruins now. Eventually, the monsters left these ruins to populate new areas.

Loox sighed. "That's all I know about the Ruins history, Gohan. One day, it's said that Miss Toriel came here and sealed the exit to the Ruins. We're free to go out, but she doesn't let anybody in."

Gohan had adjusted himself to be lying on the bed. It was a lot to take in. "Do you think… she'll let me go too?" Gohan held back a yawn. He was really tired.

Loox blinked its huge eye. "If you ask, yes."

Gohan smiled, finally at peace. "That's good… I want to see… my mommy and daddy again…"

Loox tucked him in, patting his head. "Good night, friend."

The tired boy mustered out a good night before being lulled to sleep by the comfortable bed.

* * *

Quietly, Loox turned off the light behind him. He rushed out of Gohan's room to find Toriel. It wasn't that big of a house, he found her in the kitchen, slicing the freshly baked pie. She had just finished setting a piece of pie on a plate, and was just about to do the same for two other plates. Loox stood at the door frame, panting.

Turning to meet him, she smiled. "Hello, Loox. Do you need something?"

He fidgeted uncomfortably. "You know Gohan doesn't belong here. Right?"

Toriel's eye twitched slightly, her smile dropping. She regained her composure. "Whatever do you mean Loox? This is his home."

Loox shook his head sympathetically. "He has a mother and father outside of this place. This child wishes to see them again."

Her hands shook. Trembling still, she put her pie serving tool down. She leaned onto her counter. Her gaze was locked onto the floor. Her hands holding one another. "I see."

Loox moved to stand next to her, side by side. He patted her gently on the back. "He's my friend, too."

She shook again; covering her face in despair. Loox heard her sob softly to herself. "I don't want him to die too."

Loox stared across the room. He couldn't say anything to her. He knew what the queen lost. He knew more than what he told Gohan. He couldn't burden him with that knowledge.

At last, Toriel composed herself, her expression was one of determination. "No. I will convince him to stay here. He will stay and he will like it."

Loox grinned inwardly. If she could accomplish that, that would be great. Toriel grabbed a plate of pie and handed it to Loox forcefully. He took it graciously. Toried grabbed two plates of pie, one in each hand, and walked towards Gohan's room. He followed her.

The sleeping boy looked so peaceful. His hat still on his head, his arms splayed out without a care in the world. Toriel's heart melted a little. She needed to protect this innocent child. However, this could wait until tomorrow. There was no need to disturb his rest. She tucked the boy in again, noting Loox's poor job, and rubbed his head fondly one more time. This was the first little boy she'd ever seen with a tail. Placing a plate of pie on the ground, she left the room.

She sat on her reading chair. Loox had sat down on the table, eating his slice of pie. Her mind was racing. Whatever will she do? He must not be allowed to leave the Ruins. At last, she sighed and spoke up. "Loox, dear? You're welcome to stay here for the night."

Loox finished devouring his pie before he spoke. "Thank you, ma'm."

If there's any hope of keeping him down here, it was with enjoyment and Loox, she reasoned. She would take him to her favorite bug hunting spot, read him a book, anything that would please him. Everything hinged on tomorrow. If the child doesn't ask tomorrow, it'll be even less likely that he asks the day after that. Or the day after that!

And if all else fails, she could simply destroy the exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh... i got some love... 
> 
> i guess i'll update some more i guess...
> 
> oh no... i'm rambling... no...
> 
> i'll just leave this chapter.... oh... bye...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When last we left off, a little boy went to sleep. 
> 
> We now begin with that little boy waking up.

 

Gohan woke with a start. Looking around, he realized he was in a different bed and a different room. Where was he? Hopping down, he noticed a plate of pie waiting for him. His face drained of color when realization hit him. The underground, it wasn't a dream after all. Taking the pie, he took a little bite of it. It was good. The room was dark, had someone turned off the lights?

Setting the rest of the pie on his bed, he made his way over to the door to exit. He tripped over something round and hard. Falling face first onto the ground wasn't pleasant, even if it was covered in a nice rug.

Loox woke up at the sensation of being tripped on top of. The cot that Toriel provided him wasn't that comfortable to begin with. "Good morning, Gohan." He said, a little irritated.

Gohan got up, dusting himself off. It really was kind of dusty in his room. "Good morning, Loox. Were we having a sleepover?"

"Yes." The horned monster said flatly. Getting up, the monster rolled his cot up and set it next to the lamp. He turned to Gohan hesitantly. "Today we will have fun, yes?"

He blinked at his horned friend. Well, Loox did help him a lot yesterday. He owed it to him to do something special. "Yeah!" Gohan exclaimed.

Loox had an expression of surprise on his face for a moment, but then he relaxed. "That's nice."

Even if his mom and dad were looking for him, another day wouldn't hurt, right? They'd understand. He was just making things right with his new friend. Stretching his four year old body, he followed Loox out of the room to Toriel's living room. After all, what was one more day?

Toriel was sitting on her reading chair reading one of her books. Upon seeing them, she beamed at the both of them. "Oh, you're both up. Wonderful, I hope you had a good night's rest." She put her book away and got up. "Today we shall have some fun. How would you like it if I showed you my favorite bug hunting spot?"

Gohan peered over to his friend for confirmation. Was that what he wanted? Loox caught his gaze and nodded vigorously. Giggling, Gohan turned back to Toriel and nodded happily. "Yes! Sounds like fun!" In truth, he played with bugs all the time in his forest playground, so this was just another day of play for him.

Toriel packed some bug hunting equipment and some other things while Gohan finished his pie. Soon, they left the home and returned to the deeper part of the Ruins. Past the rotating room and through the three frogs room, they reached their destination. Gohan recognized it as the room he found Napstablook.

Miss Toriel sat down on a corner of the room. Among the equipment she pulled out an old flute. "Alright boys, now, don't be startled at what happens next." She set the flute to her lips and began to play. A sweet melody echoed across the room.

From the center red leaf pile emerged a whole variety of bugs. Caterpillars, spiders, beetles, oh my! Gohan and Loox watched in amazement as the insects scurried around the room haphazardly. There must have been a multinational colony under those leaves. Gohan made a dash to capture a beetle with his bare hands. Loox himself settled with cornering a worm and poking it. Toriel put the flute down and giggled at the boys. She would have captured some bugs alongside them, but it would be more fun to watch them play.

After a few hours, they had their fill of bug hunting. The bugs had all mostly returned to the pile of red leaves. Gohan enjoyed his interaction with the little beetle skittering across his robe, but a cry of distress caught his attention.

Searching for it, Gohan looked for it at each corner of the room. At last, he found the source; A tiny spider was making a sad wailing noise. Its leg had been caught under a rock, and was now stuck. Taking pity on it, Gohan lifted the rock up. "There you go, little guy."

The spider zipped around to the left and right, and then jumped on Gohan. It appeared to be giving it the biggest hug it could muster. It scurried back into the leaves shortly after. That wasn't the end, however. Dozens of spiders emerged from the leaf pile, all surrounding Gohan.

Loox and Toriel looked on with amusement as the spiders all surrounded the very uncomfortable Gohan. They were showering him with tiny flowers and little confetti. They were very vocal for spiders, but all three could tell they were clicking and cheering for the kind boy. After a while of this, they retreated back to their homes; leaving behind the revered and very confused boy alone in the corner.

Toriel giggled at the dumbstruck child. "My, I've never seen something like that. You'll soon become very popular in the Ruins, Gohan."

Mystified still, Gohan picked up the biggest piece of confetti. There was writing all over it. He couldn't make out the writing, it was too tiny. Toriel had packed up their things, and was ready to depart.

Loox peered over his shoulder to look at the confetti. "Oh, you're lucky. That's for the spider bake sale."

Gohan tilted his head in confusion. He's never heard of a bake sale before. "You can have it."

"Really? Are you sure?"

Nodding, Gohan handed Loox the confetti. "What are friends for?" He smiled at his horned friend brightly.

Loox blushed fiercely. "Human, your kindness knows no bounds."

Toriel cleared her throat. She had more on the agenda today. "Boys! Let us be off now."

Hurrying, the two boys followed their guardian. Entering the room with the three frogs, Gohan saw something he hadn't seen before: A white, fluffy dog. He smiled brightly, the underground had doggies too? How cute!

The flute and bug catching tools fell onto the floor. Toriel had dropped the items in shock. "That's the puppy from the store…"

The white dog noticed Toriel watching it from across the room. It squeaked twice in greeting before turning back to the frog.

Gohan felt a warm hand invade his pocket. Toriel had taken his phone. A look of pure bemusement on her face, she dialed her own phone number. After a moment the white dog vibrated intermittently, and Toriel's ringtone echoed across the room.

Chaos ensued. Toriel charged the dog. The three frogs and the dog were caught off guard and scrambled madly around the room. Chasing the puppy, Toriel called out to the boys pleadingly. "Boys! Help me! This cute puppy has my phone!"

Gohan found himself useless in this situation. He froze in fear at all the froggits jumping around desperately. Loox attempted to corner the white dog with Toriel, but the slippery little thing evaded them with every attempt. Shouts, squeaks, and croaks echoed across the room. Watching the madness and realizing that he wasn't helping in the slightest depressed the four year old. Getting knocked backwards onto his bottom by a flying froggit, he started to cry softly. He didn't know what to do.

A light weight rested on his lap. Brushing the tears from his eyes, he saw the cute white doggy ontop of his lap. "H-Hello…" Gohan said meekly.

The annoying dog squeaked twice again. It licked Gohan's face playfully, causing the boy to giggle.

Toriel, Loox, and the three frogs watched on in amazement. The dog vomited up the stolen cell phone onto Gohan's lap. The dog then soared into the air, spinned vertically, and phased out of existence just like Napstablook had done the day before.

Laughter echoed throughout the room. Loox, Toriel, Gohan, and even the frogs all laughed heartily at what just happened. Toriel gave Gohan back his phone, and Gohan returned Toriel's stolen phone. All was now right in the world. Apologizing and waving goodbye to the frogs, Toriel and her boys returned home.

Gohan collapsed onto the great reading chair in exhaustion. Entering the room shortly after, Toriel giggled at the tired little boy. He was obviously spent. Dinner did need preparing however. She couldn't let this growing young boy eat only pie for two days straight! A rice dish would be good, yes.

She practically sang. "Gohan, Loox! Make yourselves comfortable, my dears. I'll be preparing dinner now."

The boys looked through each book in the bookshelf. Nothing really interested them. They both left for Gohan's room. Gohan found the toys extremely stimulating. In particular was this jet airplane that shot out little harmless pellets. It was an endless stream! However, he felt an urge to explore the home some more. He's only ever been to two rooms so far. Gohan departed, with Loox electing to stay in the room to play with the toys.

He went down the hall. There was a room going under renovations. Peeking inside, it was completely blank. The middle room turned out to be Toriel's room. A book on the desk caught his attention. He picked up the book; it was filled with jokes. They were mostly skeleton puns, but Gohan found himself giggling. Some of these made him smile, the rest made him laugh pretty hard.

"Oh!"

Gohan jumped at the intrusion. Toriel was standing in the doorway, holding a hot cup of mushrooms mixed with rice. Not knowing what to do, Gohan tried giving Toriel the book.

How adorable. Giggling, the motherly figure took the book. "Thank you, my child. If you'd like, I can read to you." Handing Gohan his portion of dinner, she guided him back into the living room. Loox had already taken a seat at the table. He was eating his rice merrily.

Choosing the chair next to Loox, Gohan sat down. Toriel sat down on the last available chair and opened the book. For the next few hours they all ate, laughed, and talked amongst themselves. Gohan laughed at a good number of the jokes she read off. It was all about the delivery, and Toriel was a really good comedian. Even Loox cracked a smile at some particularly funny puns. They had a good time.

Yawning, Gohan finished the rest of his supper. It felt like the day was over for him. Noticing, Toriel shut the book. "Well, it looks like it's time for good little boys to go to bed." Gohan didn't object to that, and allowed himself to be picked up by Toriel. Loox remained in his seat, opting to stay up a little bit longer.

She led him back into his room and gently placed him on his bed. Tucking him in, Gohan watched Toriel rub his head gently again. It was comforting. He liked it.

Toriel began to sing softly.

 _Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,_  
_Smiles await you when you rise._  
_Sleep, my child,_  
_Close your eyes,_  
_And I will sing_  
_A lullaby._

 _Cares you know not,_  
_Therefore sleep,_  
_While over you, a watch I'll keep._  
_Sleep, my child,_  
_Close your eyes,_  
_I will sing a lullaby…_

Gohan was lulled to sleep by the soothing song.

Toriel rubbed his head fondly one last time. He was so innocent, so good, and so pure. She would protect him no matter what. Exiting the room, she found Loox waiting for her in the hallway.

He gave her an approving nod. "I liked that song."

Closing the door behind her, she sighed sadly. "It's the song… Yes. It is a very nice song, isn't it?" She made her way back into her reading chair. Loox followed close by.

Hanging his head. Loox sighed. "I hope he stays…"

Toriel growled, making the little monster jump. "He WILL stay. I will make sure of it," She snapped at him.

Sweating, the monster backed away nervously. "Yes… That'd be really good. I'll go to bed too." He hurried back over to Gohan's room quietly to go to sleep.

Sighing, Toriel collapsed on her chair. She didn't mean to snap at him. He was Gohan's friend after all. Besides just that, the little horned monster was growing on her as well. Gohan leaving was just a sore spot. The sooner Gohan grows accustomed to life down here in the Ruins, the better. She mustn't entertain thoughts of him leaving.

* * *

Gohan felt a stiff breeze hit him in the lush green fields, knocking him over. The winds over Mt. Paozu were unusually strong today. Over him was a giggling Toriel and Loox.

"Oh, Gohan. Do not worry. I will watch over you." She said sweetly, dusting him off lovingly.

Loox was leaning on Gohan, laughing. Once Toriel finished padding him off, Loox and Gohan sprinted off into the fields playing with the wildlife. Playing with his friends was so much fun! Hopping over rocks in the river, climbing trees, and talking to the animals. What more could he ask for?

" _Gohan! Where are you?_ "

It was his mother.

" _Gooohan!"_

It was his father.

Looking around frantically, he noticed his friend Loox next to him look very sad. Toriel, who had joined them not too long ago, also looked very sad.

They both said to the four year old. "Please don't go."

Gohan watched them tensely. He didn't want to leave them! Just when he thought he was happy where he was, he heard his mother and father shout out for him again. He wanted to be with them too! Can't he have both?

The looked into the direction of the voices and took a step towards them. He heard his new friends call out to him together again. "No, Gohan! Please don't go!"

Gohan cried. He covered his face crying. This wasn't fair, he liked both. He wanted to be with his mommy and daddy, but he wanted to keep his friends. He cried and cried, but his mom and dad kept calling out to him, Toriel and Loox both begging him not to go. His world was being shaken.

* * *

"Gohan."

Gohan woke up, staring into the single huge eye of his horned friend. The monster sighed in relief, hints of concern still on his face. "Thank goodness. You were crying."

The four year old boy wiped the tears from his eyes. He had to do something now, he knew he had to go back to his mom and dad. Even though Miss Toriel was really nice and he didn't want to make her sad, he had responsibility as a son to return to his parents.

Jumping out of bed, he ran out of the room to find her, leaving behind a bewildered Loox. He found her in the kitchen, making pancakes with her fire magic. She jumped at the sudden intrusion, but then smiled at him sweetly. "Oh, hello my child. Breakfast is not yet ready."

The sight of her kind face looking straight at him unnerved the four year old. Could he really do this? He had to. If anything, he could visit Toriel daily. He had to go back. "Miss Toriel, how do I get back home?"

She was taken aback. "But… but my child. You are home!"

That hurt him. Inwardly he begged her: Please don't make this harder than it already is. "No… I have a mom and dad looking for me." He saw her gaze drop sadly. This was tearing him apart. He continued. "But I really like you, you're a really nice lady! I'll visit you every day when I can! I just need to let them know I'm okay…" His voice trailed off near the end. Her expression hadn't changed. She was upset.

She put the pancakes to the side, her gaze fixed on the ground. "I… I need to do something. Do not follow me, Gohan." She rushed past him, heading down the stairs near the entrance of the house.

Standing in the kitchen doorway, he did as he was told. After a few moments, Loox pat his back. "Gohan. She's going to destroy the exit."

He jumped in surprise. He hadn't known his friend was there, and the news upset him. "But… but..."

Looks loomed over him. "If you want to go, GO."

Gohan stuttered nervously, then regained his composure. He had to stop her, somehow. He ran past his friend again, to the basement.

Down the stairs was much like the ruins. It was a straight shot from the stairs to the exit. There, he found the ruins caretaker facing the exit. Her body was surrounded by fire. Her fists were completely engulfed in flames. Panting desperately, he shouted out to her. "Stop it!"

The former motherly figure turned to Gohan in all her firey might. "You naïve child. I will not let you leave here."

Gohan backed away from her. She was scary, he didn't want this. He felt his eyes water, but he wiped them away. He managed to whisper out. "…Why?"

She stared him down with a hard expression. "If you leave these ruins. They will come for you. You will die. I am only trying to protect you, my child. Do you understand? Go back upstairs."

What was waiting for him outside the ruins… they would kill him? No. His dad taught him about the mountain before, and how to avoid predators. He would just use that to escape the underground. "I'll be okay, Miss Toriel! Please! Just let me go."

Her resolution faltered a little at that, but she regained her steely composure. "You think you'll survive out there? Nonsense. Go back upstairs, my child. This is your final warning." Flames danced around her body aggressively. She took a step towards him menacingly. Gohan could never know that this was breaking Toriel's heart.

Gohan took a step backwards in fear. It was his instinct after all, to run away at the sight of danger. He caught himself though. This wasn't the time for him to run away. Now, more than ever, was the time to be a big boy. He hardened his face and looked at her with determination. "No, I need to go home!"

Her expression fell again, but she caught herself quickly. "Then prove to me you're strong enough to survive. Prove to me that you will able to withstand the obstacles you will face out there!" She threw two huge fireballs from her fists into the ground menacingly. The room shook from the force. She approached Gohan. Gohan's soul floated out of his body again.

Gohan pleaded to her. "Stop it!"

She launched a flurry of fireballs at his soul. Some of them connected, they hurt the boy quite badly. Her expression was stony. She couldn't betray herself now. She mustn't show concern to the boy now. "Fight me or go back upstairs."

He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't even know if he could. He dodged each fiery attack, his reflexes were improving. That didn't matter to him though, he just wanted to leave. Was a warm goodbye and farewell too much to have hoped for?

_Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,_

She launched more and more fiery balls of fire at the little soul. Every time a hit connected, she winced a little inwardly. This was hurting her far more than it hurt him.

_Smiles await you when you rise._

Gohan cried out, barely missing a slow moving fireball. He just wanted this to be over.

_Sleep, my child. Close your eyes,_

Her attacks became less intense as she noticed the boy's slowed movement. After so many openings and attacks thrown at him, he has yet to even strike her once. "What are you doing?! Attack me or leave!"

Leave… please leave…

_And I will sing a lullaby._

Loox watched the two combatants fight sadly. Somehow he knew it would end it up like this.

_Cares you know not, Therefore sleep,_

Gohan wiped the tears from his eyes. The outside of the Ruins couldn't be anywhere near this bad! Everything was hurting, was this…? Was he going to die?

_While over you, a watch I'll keep._

Tears welled up in Toriel's eyes. She didn't want this. She only wanted to protect him. So many children have died. Not only that, her own child…

_Sleep, my child, Close your eyes,_

Not noticing his caretaker's tears, Gohan felt cornered and in danger. One more hit and he wouldn't be able to get back up. Crying out loudly and fully losing himself; he rushed Toriel to tackle her.

Toriel didn't move. She closed her eyes.

_I will sing a lullaby…_

The impact smashed Toriel through the Ruin's exit. Grinding hard against the magenta ground, Toriel's body finally came to a halt.

Gohan looked around in confusion, and set his eyes to Toriel lying on the ground several feet from where she was originally standing. "No… No!" He ran over to her and shook her. His soul returned to his body silently. "Miss Toriel? Get up… please get up." Tears streamed down his face. She looked so weak.

The ruins caretaker pat his head warmly. "Gohan… my child. You proved yourself to be a very strong young man. I won't stop you now…" She smiled with the energy she could muster. She closed her eyes and became still.

The boy looked around desperately. He needed help, anyone to help her. He spotted Loox approaching him. He choked out crying. "Loox, I don't know what I did, please help her!"

The horned monster knelt down next to Toriel's still body. His expression was deadpan. His clawed hand felt for Toriel's heartbeat.

A toothy grin spread across his face. "You did not have intent to kill, Gohan. All is well."

Confused, Gohan looked at him to continue further. Loox didn't need to; Toriel lifted herself from the ground slowly.

Groaning and rubbing her head, she sat up. "My child, I did not know you were that strong. It appears I have underestimated you." She smiled at him sweetly.

Dumbfounded, Gohan touched her face. It was fuzzy and warm. At that moment he let his emotions go, and he allowed himself to wail as hard as he wanted. Crying and sobbing incoherently, he held onto Toriel tightly.

The gentle caretaker laughed weakly at the little boy. She brushed his head tenderly again. "There there, my child. Do not cry. I'll be just fine. I just need a moment."

Eventually, Gohan and Loox supported Toriel and took her back home. They guided her to her bed. There she was finally able to relax.

Loox turned to Gohan. "I can take care of her for a while. You should go home before she changes her mind."

The four year old nodded sadly. He could stay another day, right? Just to make sure Miss Toriel would be fine. However, something in his gut told him the sooner he left this place, the better. Before Gohan could leave, a soft voice stopped him.

"Wait, my child."

Gohan turned to the weakened Toriel. She was sitting herself up much to Loox's protests. She spoke in barely a whisper. "In your room, there is a backpack. Take it. In the kitchen, the pancakes I made, take those too." She gave him a little smile. "When you have both, come back and give me a proper goodbye, okay?"

Nodding, the boy did as he was told. He grabbed a dusty leather backpack from the room, and he put the pancakes inside. One he had everything, he ran back to Toriel's room. She was waiting for him.

"Thank you, my child. Now come, give me a hug." Extending her arms, Gohan walked into her embrace. It was nice, warm, and it lasted for a long time. He felt all the wounds inflicted by her gradually go away. She was healing him mid-hug. Toriel wiped a tear from her eyes. "Be a good boy, okay? Make sure you call me at least once every day. I promise I won't lose my phone this time."

Gohan nodded and teared up as well. "I promise, Miss Toriel. I'll make it back home and come visit you often, okay?"

She smiled in response. She wanted to believe it. He had the power, he could do it. Just once, she wanted to be right. "Goodbye, Gohan."

The boy did a polite bow. "G-Goodbye." He darted off out of the room to the basement once more.

Loox stared at the doorway longingly. He will keep his promise to take care of Toriel for Gohan. His own healing abilities were nonexistent, but he could make sure she was alright. Toriel seemed to have read his expression. "I'm sorry, Loox."

Loox turned to her in confusion. She continued. "It won't take long for me to recover. Once I am better, just an hour or two, can you please do me a favor?" Loox nodded vigorously. "Please follow Gohan and make sure he gets home safely."

That was exactly what he wanted. "Yes ma'm!" He answered excitedly.

* * *

Gohan made his way through the rubble of the collapsed door. He regretted what he did, but as long as everyone was okay then it wasn't all in vain. The magenta hallway became brighter and brighter with each passing step. Eventually he reached another opened passageway and stepped inside.

His blood froze. Flowey was waiting for him. The flower's face was smiling as usual. Gohan backed away uneasily, ready to bolt back to the house.

The flower spoke out to him. "I bet you think you did real well, don't you?"

Gohan hesitated for a moment. His soul hasn't left his body yet, he intended to keep it that way.

The flower grinned harder. "In this world, it's kill or be killed. So you managed to have your way and nobody got hurt."

He nodded in response. "U-Uh huh…" Everything was fine. Nothing bad really happened.

Flowey's face deformed into a snarl. "You only act like this because you don't know any better yet."

The boy bounced backwards in surprise. Tears welled up in his eyes again.

Cackling evilly, the flower spat out more. "You really are an idiot. You only just barely spared that old hag. Even then, you were just a breath away from killing her."

Flowey's face transformed once more, to look like Miss Toriel's face. "What would you have done…"

The face morphed again to a skeletal version of Miss Toriel's face. "If you had killed her?"

Stammering, Gohan tried to muster out an answer. He didn't really have one.

The flower cackled; its face turned back into a sly and malicious grin. "I'll give you another question then, you ugly brat. What would you do if you meet someone who doesn't want to make nice. Someone who just wants you to die? What would you do then?"

Tears ran down Gohan's cheeks. He couldn't form sounds anymore.

Flowey answered for him. "You'd die. You'd die, and nobody will ever know or care. Or, you'd kill them like you almost did that hag. Either way, I'll be watching you. Your suffering will give me great amusement."

Finally, Flowey let out an incredibly unfriendly laugh before burrowing into the ground.

After a moment, Gohan got back up. He wouldn't let Miss Toriel daunt him from trying to go home, and he won't let a mean flower do it either. Steeling his resolve, he walked past where Flowey once stood, and exited the ruins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Ruins are done and over with for now. Are you all enjoying this? Cause I'm enjoying this. Next up, everybody's favorite skeletons.
> 
> The lullaby used is a sliiightly altered version of Golden Slumbers.
> 
> Anywho, I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter. Also, I'd love a little feedback. Would you all perfer frequent but shorter chapters, or long but infrequent chapters? I could really go either way. PM me your suggestions, or just leave em in your reviews. I love you guys. Don't be shy and crap.
> 
> Oh, last thing for you Dragonball fans. I have another story called 'Enter The Nappa'. Go read that crap, it's just as good as this. It'll make you love the bald guy as much as I do.
> 
> Or else Napstablook gets it.
> 
> See you all next time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the last chapter, a little boy pushed his goat mom through a door.
> 
> We now begin with that little boy going through a similar, but different door.

It was very cold outside the ruins. Huge trees surrounded the area. There was only one real path to take. Exiting the ruins door, Gohan tip toed his way through the forest. It was dark, breezy, and scary. He didn't like this and had half a mind to turn back. That wasn't an option though, he couldn't turn back after the fuss he made back there. He couldn't turn back because he needed to go home.

Stepping over a large branch, Gohan quickened his pace. He had to keep moving, it shouldn't be too far now. He heard a large snapping noise. Startled, he turned around. The stick was in two pieces. Something had snapped it. Gohan quickened his pace even more. His fear was gripping him more and more. Hearing a shuffle behind him, he turned around again.

He called into the darkness. "H…H-Hello…?" There was no answer.

He continued forward. Gohan heard more shuffling behind him. Deciding it was the best move, he took off running. He didn't get far however, as there was a gate preventing him from continuing onwards. Footsteps. There were footsteps right behind him. He didn't want to turn around; he was really, really scared. He curled up, shaking in fear.

Eventually, the sounds stopped. A deep, dark voice sounded out.  "Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

Trembling still, Gohan turned around slowly. Looking down at the dark extended hand, he hesitated. He decided he was doomed either way, and shakily took it.

Watery fart noises echoed across the forest.

Fear dissipating rather quickly, Gohan blinked. He glanced up to the dark figure. It was a smiling hoodied skeleton. It released his hand.

"heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick… it's ALWAYS funny."

Gohan covered his mouth a little bit. It was kind of funny.

The skeleton continued. "anyways, you're a human right?"

The four year old nodded nervously. "I-I'm… yeah. My name is Gohan."

The skeleton looked away knowingly. "that's hilarious." He faced the young boy again. "i'm sans. sans the skeleton. i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but… you know… i don't really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus, he's a human-hunting FANATIC. hey, actually, i think that's him over there."

Gohan looked through the gate nervously. A human-hunting fanatic? Oh no, that did not bode well for him at all.

Sans chuckled a little at the boy's fearfulness. "i have an idea. go through this gate thingy."

The boy's gaze switched between the skeleton and the gate rapidly. What was he talking about?! It was closed!

"yeah go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone." Sans lead the boy through the gate. In his fear, Gohan didn't realize he could just slip right through just like he said.

"quick, behind that lamp. he wont find you there."

Tension rising, Gohan dove behind the lamp. He was too big, he stuck out. The shining dragon ball was in plain sight! He wished he could make himself invisible. Hearing footsteps, Gohan remained silent. He didn't dare steal a peak outside.

"sup, bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP' BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T… RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES. YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"

"staring at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna take a look?"

Gohan choked. He thought the skeleton was HIDING him! Why was he selling him out now?!

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THE SHINY, CHOKING LAMP! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH? I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT… RECOGNITION… I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, FRIEND? I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING.

"hmm… maybe this lamp will help you."

Gohan flailed a little behind the lamp. Why?! The lamp was knocked a little, causing it to rock against the snow. Luckily, the brother was stomping his foot.

"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton."

The boy covered his mouth. An audible laugh escaped him before he could stop it.

The stomping stopped. "SANS!"

"come on. you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT! SIGH. WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME… HAVE TO DO SOME MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION…"

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself… down to the bone"

This skeleton will be the death of him. Gohan covered his mouth desperately, but he couldn't stop the very audible laughs."

"UGH! EVEN THE LAMP ISN'T IMMUNE TO YOUR PUNS! I WILL GO TO ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES NOW… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE, BACKBONE INTO IT! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"

A pair of footsteps left the area, only to scurry back rapidly.

"HEH!"

The footsteps left the area again. After a moment, Gohan dared to peak over the lamp.

"ok, you can come out now."

Slowly, Gohan stepped out from behind the lamp. Realizing he's safe, he marched over to Sans. "Why'd you keep telling him to look behind the lamp?!"

Sans looked down at him, amused. "don't worry, i know my own brother. he wouldn't have looked. it was funny."

Pouting, Gohan turned away. Admittingly, the exchange was funny.

The skeleton continued. "you really ought to get going. he might come back. and if he does… you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes." He winked at the small child.

This was Gohan's chance. Turning around to face Sans, he grinned. "But Mister Sans. I find your jokes to be…" He paused for dramatic effect, just like Sans and Miss Toriel did when they told jokes. Sans' eye sockets widened in anticipation. "…humerus."

Sans leaned forward in disbelief. Then he chuckled to himself. "wow. you're good. but you should really get outta here. we'll joke together more, trust me."

Giggling to himself, Gohan nodded and skipped away from Sans. He wasn't mad at him anymore. If he ever was, anyway. Reaching the next crossroads, he wondered which way to go. He decided to continue on the path, maybe it was a straight shot to the exit?

Eventually, he saw The Great Papyrus talking to his brother Sans. But… Sans never passed him on the way here? He looked around nervously, but there was nothing to hide behind this time.

"SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE…"

Gohan backed away, only for the tall, scarf wearing skeleton to notice him instantly. He turned to his brother, who noticed at Gohan in a similar manner. They faced themselves, then back at Gohan, then back at themselves. They both spun around like tops until they eventually faced each other again.

"SANS! OH MY GOD! IS THAT… A HUMAN?!"

Both skeletons faced Gohan carefully.

"hm, i don't know. let's test it."

"TEST IT? WHAT DO YO-"

"knock knock"

Gohan jumped. He knew what to do in this situation. "Who's there?"

"dishes"

Papyrus' eye socket visibly twitched. Gohan giggled. "dishes who?"

"dishes a bad joke."

Gohan cried out in laughter. He had remembered Miss Toriel tell him this joke last night. It was funny then and it was funny now. However, someone didn't agree.

The tall skeleton rounded on his brother.  "SANS! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I MEANT! YOU'RE LOLLYGAGGING AROUND! WE HAVE A HUMAN WITHIN OUR GRAS-"

The cheery four year old piped up. "Knock knock!"

Papyrus realized that it was directed at him. Sans merely nudged him encouragingly. The tall skeleton furrowed his skeleton brow.

"WHO IS THERE?"

Gohan smiled. "Harry!"

The skeleton paused. He didn't like this. "HARRY WHO?"

"Harry up, it's cold out here!"

Sans slapped his knee and chuckled. However, the other Skeleton turned back to his brother, shaking visibly. "SANS! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU'VE MADE THE HUMAN UNLEASH JOKES ABOUT THE COLD!"

The shorter skeleton winked at his brother and shrugged. "snow kidding?"

Papayrus threw his arms up in frustration.  "ENOUGH!" The tall skeleton faced Gohan again, his faux anger abating. Bad puns aside, this was a great opportunity. "HUMAN! I WILL BE THE ONE WHO CAPTURES YOU! THEN, I WILL BRING YOU TO THE CAPITAL! ALL MY DREAMS WILL FINALLY COME TRUE! CONTINUE, BUT ONLY IF YOU DARE!" The red scarved skeleton ran away, cackling in his strange laugh.

Once Papyrus was out of eyesight, Sans turned to Gohan. "that went better than i expected. you're a natural, kid. oh, and don't worry about him. i'll keep an eyesocket out for ya."

Gohan nodded. Sans began to follow his brother, but then he paused for a moment. Turning around, he went back to Gohan and handed him a small book. "know what? take this with you. you might need it one day." He winked at the small boy. "from one comedian to another, y'know?" He went on to follow his brother.

Opening the book carefully, Gohan turned to a random page. Jokes, inside each page were a load of jokes. Interested, he flipped around the book. It was designed as a real book. It had chapter headings, an index, and even a glossary. It's true he liked jokes. They made him laugh, after all. He wouldn't call himself a comedian by any stretch though. He appreciated the thought, and he would certainly enjoy reading it as he did Toriel's.

Closing the book and putting it in his pack, Gohan faced forward. Walking past a rundown looking senty station, Gohan let himself get lost in thought. Such interesting and funny people he's been meeting. He felt as though he could trust Sans, even if he had almost sold him out their first meeting. After all, he gave him a book. He must be nice.

He reached another sentry station. It was better crafted than the one he just passed. He glanced at the sign next to it. 'Absolutely NO MOVING!', it read. Gohan stood still for a moment. A few minutes went by. Was this long enough? Shaking his head, he strode past the sign and sentry station. He heard a noise that sent him chills.

"Did something move? Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things."

Gohan didn't move at all.

"If something WAS moving… for example, a human… I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!"

Gohan stood frozen. He wanted to cry. He wanted to whimper. He forced himself not to.

Several minutes passed. The voice hadn't said anything else. Gohan breathed silently, trying hard not to move. He had an itch on his nose. Of course he had an itch on his nose/

"…Maybe it was just my imagination."

The young boy heard shuffles behind him. Assuming whatever it was had left, he slowly walked away. He didn't want to alert it with loud and frantic running. He did scratch that itch, though.

Walking forward pondering his situation, he felt his soul leave him once more.

A large bird with an even larger head fluttered in before him. Gohan backed away uneasily, he looked mean. The bird muttered something quietly. It was so quiet Gohan didn't quite catch it.

"I-I'm sorry Mister Bird. W-What did you say?"

The bird went from a whisper to a shout. "MACARONI AND FREEZE!"

It wasn't that funny, and the delivery was awkward. The boy stared at the awkward bird, confused.

The bird suddenly became uncomfortable. His voice again went to a quiet whisper. "I-Ice to meet you."

He realized that the bird was trying to make him laugh. The bird was doing a terrible job at it though. Taking pity on the poor unfunny bird, Gohan let out a delayed but audible chuckle. The bird fluttered excitedly. "SEE?! Laughs! Dad was wrong! I can be funny!"

Smiling, this would be a great time for Sans' joke. He went for it. "Snow kidding!"

The bird freaked out, causing Gohan's soul to launch itself back inside. "Omigod! OMIGOD! How did I not know THAT one?!" The bird bounced around madly until it fluttered itself face to face with Gohan.

Chuckling weakly, Gohan nodded at the bird. "Well, I only just learned that one. Mister Sans taught it to m-"

The bird freaked out even harder. "SANS?! SAANS?! OH MY GOD THAT DUDE IS A LEGEND! HE DOES STAND UP WITH MY DAD AT THE MTT HOTEL!"

Was Sans that big of a deal? Taking out the book Sans gave Gohan from his pack, he showed it to the crazy bird. "He's nice. We were just joking around not too long ago, then he gave me this book."

Once again, the bird went absolutely ballistic. Could birds have heart attacks? "IS THAT?! IS THAT?! IT'S SANS JOKEBOOK! OMIGOD!"

Slightly nervous, the young boy allowed the bird to take the book. The bird salivated while reading the book. He laughed loudly and obnoxiously at some of the jokes. Gohan didn't want to be rude, so he sat on a rock while the bird flipped through the pages. Eventually, the bird put the book down and rounded on Gohan. "This is definitely his joke book! And he just gave it to you?!"

The young boy nodded. The bird squawked around and fluttered. "I'm Snowdrake, by the way! My friends call me Snowy! Hey, can I borrow this book?! I'll give it back tomorrow!"

Gohan tilted his head to the side. Normally he wouldn't mind, but he's trying to go home, and who knows how long it'll take for him to visit back? Not to mention, how would he find Snowy again? Finally, he shook his head. "Sorry, I'm on my home. I don't mind if you read it with me, but I really gotta go."

Snowy's expression dropped. The bird appeared to ponder for a moment. "Can I tag along to where ever you're going? This joke book is everything I need!"

The four year old boy didn't see any problem with this. "I don't see why not."

He led the bird down the path he'd been taking. The bird followed Gohan. Snowy's beak was deep in the pages of the joke book, while Gohan swung his arms humming. He felt safer with a companion, like he had with Loox. He saw Sans down the path and waved at him, Sans waved back.

"hey kid. i see the book was of use to you after all." He said, winking.

Gohan nodded. He supposed he made sort of a new friend. Gohan turned to Snowy, who was still deeply entranced by the joke book. "Yeah, Sans, this is Snowey. Snowy, this is Sans."

"yo."

Snowy looked up with a bored expression. "Hey what's u-". His eyes practically bulged out of his skull. "S-S-Sans…"

The lazy skeleton chuckled, and turned back to Gohan. "so kid, my bro's gonna be throwing puzzles at you for a while. nothing dangerous though."

Gohan felt Snowy's wing grab his robe roughly. He turned to his bird friend confused, and turned back to Sans who wore an amused expression.

"he's just up ahead. be seein' ya."

He nudged Gohan on down the path. Gohan looked back at the stout skeleton. Sans was just daydreaming in his own little world. His bird friend was muttering things rapidly. Gohan occasionally caught things like "he actually talked to me" and "he's so cool".

A wide opened area greeted them further down the forest. Gohan looked across the wide area, there stood Papyrus and Sans waiting. How does he keep doing that?!

"YOU'RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"

"I think that's called… sleeping."

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES! OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES WITH A FRIEND! MY BROTHER AND I CREATED SOME PU- …WAIT A FRIEND?"

The tall skeleton's gaze locked on to Snowy. He eyed him up and down. Snowy was preoccupied staring at Sans. Eventually, Papyrus shook his head.

"NO MATTER! WE HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! THIS ONE YOU WILL FIND QUITE SHOCKING! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE… ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN? BECAUSE, THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL, I THINK. OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW."

Gohan stared at the tall skeleton holding the orb for a moment. He raised his hand meekly.

"YES, HUMAN?"

Gohan dropped his hand back down. "Uhm. Excuse me, but if the orb gives off a zap, will that zap you or will it zap me?"

Sans smile widened. Papyrus looked down at the orb. "OH, WELL. IT WILL ZAP YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN FOR MY WELLBEING, HUMAN, BUT I HAVE THOUGHT OF EVERYTHING."

Nodding, the boy tried the electrical maze with Snowy close in tow.

All of a sudden, the tall skeleton received a hearty zap that left him sizzling. Panting, the skeleton dropped the orb. "OKAY. SO YOU WERE RIGHT. GIVE ME ONE MOMENT."

Picking up the orb, Papyrus went across the maze, leaving his footsteps while he did so. The solution of the maze was revealed. The tall skeleton handed the young boy the orb. "PLEASE HOLD THIS."

The boy looked down at the clear blue orb. Papyrus had scuffled his way back next to his brother. Sighing again, Gohan raised his hand.

"YES, HUMAN?"

Gohan's gaze dropped to the ground, embarrassed. "Well, you, uh. You left a trail to and from me. The maze isn't a maze anymore."

Papyrus glanced at the ground and then at the boy, his expression dropping for a second. However, he began to cackle again.  "NONSENSE, HUMAN! THE TRAIL IS A REWARD FOR YOUR HONESTY AND WIT! GO ON, THIS IS ONLY THE FIRST PUZZLE AFTER ALL."

The four year old brightened up. Oh! So that's what it was. Of course, his good deeds got him an easier puzzle and praise from the tall skeleton! That made sense. Holding his bird friend's hand, he skipped across the maze with ease. Upon reaching the end of the maze, Papyrus and Sans clapped for him.

"GOOD WORK HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, COMMEND YOU. HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM!"

The skeleton cackled and marched away, being followed by his brother.

"nice save, bro."

"INDEED, I AM A MASTER OF MANY THINGS. DECEPTION IS MERELY ONE OF THEM."

* * *

 

Following the brothers, Gohan and Snowy encountered a sighing ice cream man muttering to himself. The blue gentleman perked up. "Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream? It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just 15G!"

Gohan wanted to try it, yes. However, he didn't have a single G to his name. He didn't want to mooch off of Snowy either.

His bird friend pecked him on the shoulder. "Got any cash, dude? I kinda ran away from home without money."

The young boy shook his head sadly. So even mooching off of his friend wasn't an option. "No, I don't have any money either."

A voice called out from the way they have just come. "Well, I have some money."

Gohan perked up at the familiar voice. Without hesitation, he ran back down the trail. Snowy remained standing next to nice cream guy.

Gohan reached the speaker and grabbed his clawed hand. The young boy jumped up and down excitedly.

Loox gave Gohan a toothy grin. "I missed you too, friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> SPOILERS: Gohan gets nice cream next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the last chapter Loox reunited with Gohan.
> 
> We now begin with a flashback to Loox's departure of the ruins. Isn't that lovely?

Toriel sat upright on her bed. With her healing magic, as long as she wasn't fatally injured she'd be able to patch anything up. Roughly an hour has passed and she already felt fully recovered. Perhaps it would have been best to send Loox with Gohan from the start?

She slid herself off of her bed and opened up one of her drawers. Underneath her collection of socks she found her pocketbook, and from within she took out several coins. This should be enough for the trip, she reasoned. Putting the pocketbook away, she made her way to the kitchen. She found Loox packing some of his breakfast into a bag, she chuckled softly. "Loox, dear. I think it's safe for you to join Gohan now."

The sharp toothed monster started at her sudden appearance. However, at the sight of the boss monster now up and around, he couldn't contain his excitement. "Yes, I'll make my way now."

She offered him the coins. "Here Loox, take this as well, just in case you need some fare for anything." Gohan would be safest with a monster companion, and she knew he possessed no money of his own. This would be enough to buy him food to eat and a roof over his head for the night.

The demonic looking monster opened his bag, prompting Toriel to deposit the coins in. Slinging his things over his shoulder, Loox waved at Toriel and headed out from the kitchen, descending down the stairs. From the stairs Loox would go through the passageway and then meet up with Gohan. All would be well.

Toriel sat down on her reading chair and opened up a book.

All would be well.

Turning the page, fear gripped her. She tried to shake it off. This time was different. This human fought her back, he was strong. He was strong.

All would be wel-

"You look pale."

Dropping the book in surprise, she glanced in the direction of the sound. It was the same flower that had been torturing the boy.

Toriel narrowed her eyes at the unwelcomed visitor. "You're intruding in my home."

Flowey wilted a little at her harsh words. Though she didn't come straight out attacking, her cold tone was laced with enough hostility to indicate danger. He had to choose his words carefully.

"I'm sorry, forgive my rudeness, ma'am. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Flowey, Flowey the Flower." He waited for Toriel to introduce herself, but she didn't utter a word. Understandably, she was still hostile. He continued. "I encountered Gohan just a while ago on the outside an-"

Discarding the book, the boss monster jumped from the chair with her fists engulfed in flames. "What did you do to him?" Her words were strained, as if she was fearing the worst. Inside his mind, Flowey rolled his eyes. Of course his mother would be difficult, but he knew how to handle her.

"Nothing at all. He's even made a bird friend. Last I saw him, he was talking to the skeleton brothers."

Skeleton brothers. She knew of only one pair of skeleton brothers. Dare she hope that it's them? Toriel's flames died out. Flowey laughed maniacally in his head. He'd placated her in his first try, the old hag was too predictable.

Her expectations, her loneliness, her fear…

He could use these.

* * *

Introductions were in order. Gohan led Loox back to Snowy and the Ice cream man. "Snowy, this is Loox. Loox, this is Snowy, he's nice."

Loox squinted his big eye at the teenage bird, then nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Snowy." Snowy nodded back respectfully. "You too."

The one eyed monster reached into his pack and withdrew some coins. Paying for thee nice creams, they kept walking and eating. Gohan felt so good. Having one friend was good, but having two was even better. Loox and Snowy seemed to be getting along alright. They reached Sans just hanging out in a corner. Again, Snowy devolved into a sputtering fanboy and clung close to Gohan. "Jeez. He hangs out here all the time!" He whispered to Gohan quietly.

Sans chuckled at the approaching group. "gohan, buddy, you're getting more popular by the second."

The boy blushed lightly. "No, this is Loox. He was my friend from the ruins."

Gohan felt Loox also grip on his robe. Confused, Gohan turned to Loox. The horned monster didn't look good. Loox still wasn't comfortable with new people.

Smiling, he took Loox's clawed hand comfortingly. "Don't worry, he's not scary," Gohan whispered.

Loox settled down a little and stuttered. "P-Pleased to meet you, Sans."

Sans smiled warmly.  "pleasure, loox. anyway kid, bros just up over that way." Sans pointed to the lower exit of this area. He winked, "hope you don't get too stumped on my puzzle."

Nodding, Gohan and his gang moved towards the next area. As Gohan had expected, Sans was waiting for him along with his brother. Loox did a double take and then breathed out, "H-How…?"

Gohan shrugged and giggled. "I don't know."

"HUMAN! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR…"

Papyrus noticed Loox, and gazed onto the puzzle on the floor. A single sheet of paper.

"…SANS! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE?! HUMAN! WHO'S YOUR NEW FRIEND?"

Sans answered first. "it's right there. trust me, they're not getting past that one."

Gohan chimed in. "This is Loox, I met him when I came down here. He's nice."

Loox gave a shy wave.

Papyrus nodded. "ALL ACCEPTABLE ANSWERS. HELLO TO YOU, NEW FRIEND." Loox blushed and hid away. Papyrus didn't seem to notice. "LET THE PUZZLE COMMENCE!"

The trio surrounded the piece of paper. Snowy let out a sigh. "I suck at word searches." Gohan gave him a reaffirming pat on the back.

Gohan lied down on the snow looking at the word search with the other two looking over his shoulder. After a few moments, Gohan realized something. Looking to Loox, he shook his head. Looking to Snowy, he also responded negatively.

"Excuse me? Mister Papyrus?"

"MISTER?! I MEAN. WHAT IS IT, HUMAN?" Papyrus folded his arms in a very cool manner.

"We… don't have a pencil. We can't circle the answers…"

Papyrus's jaw dropped comically. He rounded onto Sans. "SANS! YOU DIDN'T GIVE THE HUMAN ALL THE TOOLS HE NEEDED TO FINISH THE PUZZLE!"

Sans chuckled to himself, clearly enjoying himself. "sorry bout that. no problem pap, gimme a sec."

The short skeleton casually walked behind a tree. Within a few seconds he stepped from behind the tree with three pens and a clipboard for the word search. He handed a pen to each of the boys and secured the puzzle to the board. "here ya go, sorry bout that." He winked at them.

Gohan giggled and took his pen, his partners taking one each. They began to work.

"Hey look! I found monster."

"W-Where Gohan?"

"It's right there in the middle."

"Well then circle it, jeez."

"Haha, sorry."

"I-I think I found Robot. Here."

"Oh wow, good job Loox."

"Hehe… "

"Oh jeez, I found cigar… hey wait. Cigar and cig… can I circle the 'cig' part of cigar AND the whole of cigar…?"

"nope."

"…Yes sir mister Sans sir!"

"SANS, I DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE A MISTER TOO."

"heh. me either."

"Look guys, I found cig! It's backwards!"

"What?! Where?"

"Um, it's on the bottom line, see the C next to the W?"

"…OH! That makes sense."

"G-Good job, Gohan."

"i think I see mermaid backwards too."

"WHERE?"

"right under the 'monster'."

"OH. OH I SEE IT! YES. CIRCLE IT, HUMAN."

"O-Okay, haha!"

…

"Look guys, Winter is diagonal, next to cig! It's backwards too!"

"way to go, kid."

"Hahaha!"

Several minutes passed, until only one remained.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, THE LAST ONE IS RIGHT THERE, AT THE TOP, ALL THIS TIME!"

"…Mister Papyrus, that's not it. It looks close, but it's not."

"WHAT? HMM… GIASFCLFUBREHBER… GIAFCLFEBREHBER… AH! IT'S VERY SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. GOOD CATCH, HUMAN."

"Haha, thanks!"

"B-But then where's the last word…?"

…

"uh, i think that exact word isn't here."

"SANS! YOU GAVE THE HUMAN AN IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPLETE PUZZLE!"

"whoops."

"HONESTLY MY STANDARDS ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN THIS! SOMETIMES I THINK YOU JUST DON'T CARE, SANS."

Grumbling, Papyrus marched from behind the trio with Sans following him casually. Gohan was having such a fun time with his friends that he didn't think it was weird the skeleton brothers joined them for puzzle fun as well.

"WELL HUMAN, IT IS COMENDABLE THAT YOU GOT THROUGH THIS IMPOSSIBLE PUZZLE. OR AS FAR AS YOU ARE POSSIBLY ABLE TO."

Papyrus gave Sans an irritated glance. Sans chuckled.

"NEVERTHELESS, YOU MAY PASS AGAIN. BUT WILL YOU BE ABLE TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE NEXT PUZZLE!? NYEH HEH HEH! WE WILL SEE!"

Papyrus glided off, Sans stayed behind. Facing the trio, he shrugged. "y'know, i never thought group word searches were that fun. thanks guys, my bro and i had a blast." With that, Sans followed after his brother.

Snowy breathed out, "He's so cool…" Gohan nodded in response. Loox shrugged.

Walking past the plate of pasta, and down the path, they encountered a set of spikes. Gohan timidly approached the spikes, but they did not go down like the ones in the ruins.

Loox rubbed his chin. "D-Drat. What do we do now?" Turning to Snowy, Loox grinned. "Can you fly us?"

Snowy shook his head. "Can't fly. Dad never taught me. He said it's for grown up birds."

Gohan's soul popped out once more, much to the other two's surprise. Turning around to see the threat was a dog standing upright with a sword and shield.

Snowy breathed out. "It's the royal guard, what do they want?!"

The armored dogged gave a resolute bark and drew its sword. As if answering Snowy's question, the dog pointed the sword to Gohan, much to the trio's shock.

The dog charged Gohan and his soul, to which the boy crouched over in fear. Lesser Dog slashed at Gohan. The boy cried out as the sword was about to connect, but several of Loox's bullets and Snowy's rings blocked the sword from connecting, blowing the guard backwards.

Picking himself up, Gohan sniffed, wiping his eyes. "T-Thanks guys." Both of his friends grunted in response, their attention focused on Lesser Dog. Loox seemed ready to continue. Snowy folded his wings. "Hey, it's not ICE to pick on kids, Royal Guardsman."

The dog yiped at Snowy's cold words.

Gohan's soul faded itself back into his body. Lesser Dog whined sadly. It seemed as though the dog was throwing in the towel, being outnumbered three to one AND being chastised for his actions. Gohan sighed. It's been a long day, who knows how long it's been since he left the ruins.

Snowy turned to his comrades. "H-Hey guys... I think we just hurt a royal guardsman..."

Loox tilted his head at the teenager. "So? H-He was attacking our friend."

The light blue bird let out a low groan. "Because he's the king's men. If he reports this to Undyne, we're in big trouble..."

Gohan perked up at that. He had heard that name before. "Who's Undyne?" He asked curiously.

Snowy gasped. "Only the strongest member of the royal guard! She's the strongest monster except for the King! She suplexes boulders for FUN!"

"My dad can do that too."

"NO WAY!"

Gohan nodded at Snowy's shocked expression. He approached the Lesser Dog who was still whining sadly. Taking pity on it, Gohan gave Lesser Dog a pet. Panting, the dog approved and seemed to extend its neck to meet Gohan's hand.

Giggling, the boy continued to pet the dog.

Several minutes later, Lesser Dog towered above trees with Snowy, Loox, and Gohan hanging onto his neck for dear life.

Snowy cried out desperately, "IT'S BECAUSE YOU KEPT PETTING HIM! YOU MADE HIS NECK STRETCH OUT THIS FAR!"

Gohan was crying, his face covered in Lesser Dog's fur. "I DIDN'T KNOW! I'M SORRY!"

The trio kept rising above the clouds. Gohan could see the entrance to the ruins, a small little town in the distance, a marsh land, and could barely make out a bright orange place. Unfortunately for them, they stopped suddenly, Lesser Dog hitting his head on the ceiling.

Whining, Lesser Dog kept panting. The trio soon realized that they were stuck here.

Gohan looked down, all he could see were clouds. "H-How do we get down?"

"I-I don't know Gohan, hold on, let me switch with you." Loox climbed the dog's fur neck, trying to meet Gohan. Unfortunately, he slipped.

"A-AH! AH AH!" Loox fell a few feet and caught a great chunk of lesser dog's fur. The dog whined in protest at the pain that all the fur tugging was causing him but it wasn't audible over Loox's terrified screams.

"HELP!" Loox chittered his teeth desperately.

Gohan tore himself from Lesser Dog's neck. "Hold on, Loox!"

"AHHHH!" The dog's whining intensified as Loox clawed the dog for fur that it didn't have.

Snowy reached out to Loox. "Take my hand, guy!"

Loox reached out and gripped Snowy's hand. However, instead of being pulled in, Loox pulled Snow off of Lesser Dog. The two began to scream bloody murder. Snowy hung off of Loox's clawed grip while Loox held on with one hand onto Lesser Dog, much to the dogs protest.

Gohan looked down onto his two doomed friends. He urged the canine. "Please! Go back down! They won't survive a fall from this height!"

The two shook violently from fear. Loox cried out. "I'M SLIPPING! I'M SLIPPING." Snowy's words were a slew of foreign swear words that Gohan couldn't understand.

Crying, Gohan pounded on Lesser Dog's neck. "Go back down! Go back down!"

Lesser Dog, at last, couldn't take anymore, and his body collapsed onto the snow.

Gohan stared and felt the beginning of the descent. Like a tree toppling down, the lesser dog fell downwards, the ground quickly becoming visible. They all screamed.

"heh."

Sans held one hand towards the falling figures and slowed them down. One by one, the trio and lesser dog fell before Sans until they all landed neatly into a little pile. Papyrus stood over the dumbstruck and silenced group.

"WOWIE. I NEVER THOUGHT OF SOLVING THE PUZZLES THAT WAY. YOU GUYS ARE TRICKY."

Papyrus gave a sad glance at the puzzles they passed through. He had spent so much time trying to make that last puzzle to look like his face, only for it to be completely skipped over by tomfoolery.

Sans chuckled and leaned on his brother. "hey pap, it's alright. there's still alphy's puzzle."

Papyrus rattled his bones excitedly. "OH YES OF COURSE, THAT PUZZLE! AND THEN THERE'S THE SLIDING ICE PUZZLE! THEN THERE'S THE ULTIMATE PUZZLE!" He jumped up and down excitedly. "THANK YOU SANS. BY THE WAY, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

He shrugged. "magic."

Gohan stood up first, understandably traumatized. He helped Loox and Lesser Dog up, while Snowy picked himself up, muttering swears. Gohan turned to Sans. "You did that? T-Thank you." Lesser Dog ran past all of them, his little eyes twinkling with creative inspiration.

Sans was about to acknowledge him, but was interrupted by Papyrus. "ALRIGHT HUMAN, YOU'VE BEATEN PUZZLES THREE! NOW, LET'S SEE HOW YOU FARE AGAINST THE NEXT! NYEH HEH HEH." Papyrus lifted Sans and flung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and jogged away. Sans gave a shrug at Gohan while being carried off.

Loox shook his head. "I have no idea where we are." Snowy groaned sadly, picking up the joke book from the ground and dusting off the snow.

Laughing timidly, Gohan held his head. It's been such a long day, he could hardly take it. Snowy pointed out that they were nearly to the exit of the forest to town. Just a little bit more and they'd reach 'Snowden'. Maybe Gohan could find a place to rest there? They followed the direction the brothers went off in, and soon after, encountered them again.

Papyrus was folding his arm looking in their direction while Sans was fiddling with a rectangular box.

"AHA! HUMAN AND FRIENDS! IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU, NOW FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS!" Papyrus made a grand gesture to the grey area ontop of the snow. "OH YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS! THIS IS THE GREAT COLORED MAZE!"

The three nodded tiredly. Their energy levels after the fall were all low, they couldn't help but be less than enthusiastic. Gohan was by far the most affected.

Papyrus seemed to notice, and his face fell. "UM… YES, THE GREAT MAZE WITH THE TILES. EACH TILE DOES SOMETHING DIFFERENT, AND-"

Gohan collapsed. The last thing he heard was his friends calling out his name, with Papyrus' calling out 'HUMAN?'

* * *

Floating in a sea of bubbles, Gohan swam his way upwards. He didn't know why, but he had an intense desire to go to the surface. He passed Sans inside a huge bubble. No matter what he did, Gohan couldn't pop the bubble to release him. Sans looked frozen in time, a huge grin on his face. He searched for some help, but instead noticed Papyrus in another bubble. Slowly, he passed several bubbles with people he remembered in each, some bigger than the others. He hit a ceiling with some force, he couldn't go up more.

He felt a small bump on his head from the impact. "Ouch… where am I?" He rubbed his head absently.

"In your head, you clod." Responded an eerie but annoyed voice.

Gohan started. What… was that? It sounded like the same voice from before, when he first fell down. He tried making his way towards the sound of the voice. "Hold on! I'll be right there!" He called out to the voice.

"Ugh. Fine." The eerie voice was close, Gohan resolved to move faster.

Turning a corner of some other bubbles, he gasped. Two huge bubbles with his mom and dad were there, and on top of them was a child sitting upon them. A child with a green shirt with a tan stripe and rosy cheeks. They didn't seem too thrilled to see Gohan, as they huffed in annoyance as he approached.

Gohan floated to the child. "Hello, nice to meet you, my name i-"

The child snapped, "I know what your name is, Gohan."

Taken aback, Gohan floated backwards away from the child. Fidgeting uncomfortably, he quietly spoke again. "W-What's your name?"

"Chara." The child said flatly. The eeriness was still there, but now that Gohan could put a face to it, it was much less spooky.

Gohan smiled weakly. "Nice to meet yo-"

Chara snarled, "How did you just collapse in the middle of nowhere where it's SNOWING?! Do you want to die?"

Recoiling from that, the little boy teared up. "I didn't mean to, I just… I just…"

The child stood up from their sitting position and floated up to Gohan. Chara regarded the boy in disgust. "What are you, five years old?"

Wiping his tear soaked face off, he stuttered a response. "F-Four…"

Chara laughed harshly. "Four? You're four years old?! Seriously? Is this a joke?! Well it has to be, why else would it be so funny? Hahaha!"

The boy winced. "W-Why are you so mean? I didn't… I didn't…"

The child frowned then put their hands on their hips. "God damn, you're hopeless. Why don't you just give me your body? You won't be able to get out, but I can."

Gohan sniffled through tears. "W-What? You c-can't have my body…"

Chara's frown deepened, then they shrugged. "Whatever, your funeral." They laughed evilly.

Frowning, the robed boy poked his fingers together. "I-I'm sorry. If this is my head, and everyone else is in a bubble… what..?"

They waved their hand in dismissal of the question. "Yeah, yeah. You have a lot of questions that I don't want to answer. So instead I'll just tell you a story, okay? Save your questions for when I'M done. Don't interrupt."

Gohan nodded.

"I'm dead." Chara began. Gohan made a motion to ask, but Chara bitch-slapped him hard across the face.

Gohan was about to cry but Chara put a finger to his face to stop him. Once Gohan's simpering ended, Chara continued. "I died a really long time ago, here in the Underground. I was buried in the spot that you fell on when you arrived. I felt you near, another human like me was nearby near where I fell from the underground." Chara chuckled softly. "No, not like me. Someone with a lot of power, a ton of power enough to wake me up from my eternal slumber. So I called out to you so you could help me." Gohan tilted his head in confusion, but dared not to say a word.

Chara sighed. "I didn't expect YOU, mister goodie two shoes. So pure and good. Blegh. There's not a single dark or blank spot in your soul, it's all gooooood." Chara wiggled their arms around all wobbly woobly. "So, as I soon found out the hard way, I can't really exist in your conscious without your okay. I can't see what you see, I'm only aware of your surrounds and crap when you're knocked out like this."

Gohan made another motion to talk, but Chara raised their hand again threateningly, prompting Gohan to not. "You know the legends about this mountain, right?" Gohan shook his head, Chara laughed. "No wonder such a goody two shoes managed to worm their way down here. The Underground, Mt. Ebott. Those who climb the mountain never come back down. So if you didn't know, well, sucks for you." Chara grinned at the dumbstruck Gohan. They continued. "I came up here for… reasons. I met the monsters, I lived here, I died here. My friend and I came up with a plan to free all the monsters here. You need seven human souls to break it open, so with my soul in his hands, we were going to get more souls to open the barrier." Gohan watched Chara intently.

They let out a long drawn out sigh. "He betrayed me. Stupid idiot got me AND himself killed. Our plan had failed. So when he died, I died too. Now, here I am." Chara held their head in anguish. "Why was I brought back to life? I'm stuck in a little boy's body who is just going to die again. Then… I'll be gone again too."

Chara sat there for a while, then waved at Gohan to indicate that he's free to speak. Gohan didn't know what to say, or what to ask.

Gohan felt the cheek where Chara had slapped him. Chara wasn't the patient type, but they weren't that bad. They're just in a bad situation, that's all. "W-Well… if it makes you happy, you can stay in my consciousness… and I can try to help you, really." He murmured lamely.

They grinned darkly, their rosy cheeks lifting. "I bet you'll banish me back here soon enough, goody-two-shoes, but sure. Why not? It's not the first time I partnered up with a crybaby."

Gohan leaned in closer. "Uhm, so what was your plan back then? To get souls?"

Chara yawned. "Use my monster friend to kill some humans, then come back here and free monster kind." They grinned at Gohan's shocked expression. "What, you think we'd borrow souls? No, I had to die so my friend could take mine, and so at least six others were going to follow suit. Don't cry."

He didn't cry, he wasn't going to do that at all. Righteous fury surged within Gohan. "But that's wrong, it's wrong to kill. Even if it's for good, there has to be another way to free everyone without..." Gohan couldn't finish that thought.

They laughed harshly in response. "Yeah, maybe in your fantasy land. Ugh, kids." Chara shook their head and turned around to face the giant bubbles housing Goku and Chi-Chi, their back to Gohan. "These your parents?"

The boy sighed sadly. "Yeah, I really need to go back home. They're waiting for me."

Chara clenched their teeth. Disgusting. Humans, the lot of them, they hated them all so much. To partner with one after all this time, left a bad taste in their mouth. They'd be a fool not to use the boy, though. The area around themselves began to brighten. Chara smiled evilly, then turned around to face Gohan once more.

They put on a friendly face. "Looks like you should be waking up soon."

Gohan smiled at Chara's seemingly improved mood. "That's good. We'll get out of here, and I'll… help you, in whatever way I can."

Returning the smile from ear to ear, Chara couldn't help but want to slap this kid again. This child's innocence, their shyness, and sensitiveness were all things they can use against him. More importantly though, was this child's incredible dormant power, on par with what they felt when they joined with Asriel. This could be their second and last chance.

As the light engulfed them, Gohan reached out and held Chara's hand. They started for a moment, and caught the boy's happy expression before it became too bright to see.

They chuckled. "Let's go, partner."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you didn't think Chara was going to be in this story. Surprise, they are!


	6. Chapter 6

Gohan fluttered his eyes open. He was lying on top of something soft and he was covered by a blanket. Looking to his left, he saw some cool action figures and a pirate flag. More importantly though was the tall skeleton sitting directly next to him. Papyrus was leaning over him, blinking rapidly at the stirred child.

"A-ARE YOU AWAKE, HUMAN?"

Gohan yawned and sat up. He nodded sleepily and took in the room. Rubbing his eyes, the child asked tiredly, "Where am I?"

"YOU ARE IN THE HOUSE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! WELL, SANS LIVES HERE TOO, SO IT'S HIS HOUSE TOO. OH, THAT REMINDS ME!"

Papyrus pulled out his cell phone and began to press upon it rapidly. While tapping away, he continued to speak. "SANS WENT BACK TO WORK WHEN WE BROUGHT YOU HERE, BUT HE TOLD ME TO TEXT HIM RIGHT AWAY AFTER YOU WOKE UP."

Gohan tilted his head in confusion. "Uhm… I'm sorry. How long have I been asleep?"

Papyrus finished his texting and turned back to Gohan. "YOU'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR FIVE HOURS. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU WHILE YOU SLEPT!"

The boy laughed quietly. "You were watching me the whole time?"

The tall skeleton nodded. "YES. I'VE KEPT A CLOSE EYE ON YOU THE WHOLE TIME, JUST IN CASE." Papyrus's expression fell a little. "I WAS STARTING TO THINK THAT IF YOU DIDN'T WAKE UP BY TODAY I WOULD TAKE YOU TO THE DOCTOR… BUT YOU'RE UP NOW, SO WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT AT ALL! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Gohan frowned at him. "But, Mister Papyrus, weren't you going to capture me? Aren't I captured now?"

Papyrus started then turned away. "WELL YES OF COURSE I'M GOING TO CAPTURE YOU. BUT YOU HAVE TO BE WELL FIRST. THAT CAN WAIT UNTIL AFTER YOU'RE BETTER. YES, WE MUST CONTINUE OUR BATTLE OF WITS SO THAT I CAN CAPTURE YOU PROPERLY!" The skeleton gave Gohan a hopeful peek. "DO YOU NOT AGREE?"

A bright smile spread across the boy's face. "Of course! Thank you for helping me, Mister Papyrus!"

The skeleton's bones rattled excitedly. "YES OF COURSE! I AM SO GREAT, NYEH HEH HEH! WELL, I'M GOING TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS DOWNSTAIRS THAT YOU'VE AWAKENED!" With that, he got up and left the room at full speed. Gohan smiled. Maybe Papyrus could be his friend too? Loox and Snowy were here too? That's great!

A disgusted noise rang out in his head. "Ugh."

Gohan jumped. Sitting on the edge of the bed was Chara with their back facing Gohan.

"C-Chara?"

They snickered. "The one and only. I can't believe you're CONSENTING to try to get capture."

Gohan frowned at the child. How long had Chara been there? "How...?"

Chara folded their arms, knowing Gohan's question before the boy knew how to articulate it. "You want me to explain how this works, right?" Chara groaned, they didn't need him to answer that obvious question.

"You're lucky I've done this before, otherwise we'd both be lost. Two people, one body. You have full control over yours, and I'm a spirit out here. You can voluntarily give control of your body to me for however long you want. It sounds like a crap deal for me, but it beats slumming it in your subconscious."

The boy nodded, thinking he understood. "Oh, okay. About Mister Papyrus, well, we were mostly playing games. He's really-"

"Oh, shut up already. I could tell just by how he was acting that skeleton wouldn't harm anything. Instead of declining his stupid game though, you're going to waste more of your and my time." Chara turned around to face Gohan, a dark gaze printed on their face. "Don't you want to see your mom and dad again?"

Before Gohan could sputter out an answer, Loox and Snowy bolted into the room. Chara floated out of their way in time while they surrounded the racecar bed. They rounded on Gohan, both excited.

"Gohan, I'm so thankful you're alive…"

"Jeez kid, you scared the crap out of me!"

Gohan stared at both of them for a moment. He stole a peek at Chara just floating there. He thought at Chara, "Can't they see you?"

"Of course they can't see me, dummy. Nor can they hear me." The child crossed their arms, watching him. "Oh, don't mind me, talk to your friends."

"Gohan, you are okay, yes?"

Gohan brought his attention back at Loox. He felt a little uncomfortable with this arrangement but he did say it was okay for Chara to share space with him. He put this aside for now. "Y-Yeah. I'm okay Loox. Thank you for asking."

Snowy grabbed Gohan and shook him playfully. "Yo, so the skells and Loox are yanking my chain when they said you're a human, right? Like, they called you that, but you're not REALLY a REAL human…?"

The boy regarded Snowy. "I'm a human, yeah…"

The snowdrake took a few steps backwards. Gohan heard Chara cackle. Snowy gulped uncomfortably. "But… but you're so nice, dude."

Loox squinted his eye at Snowy. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Snowy held his wings up in defense. "Humans are the ones who doomed us all here, they attacked for no reason and-"

"That was NOT Gohan!" Loox boomed.

The light blue bird flinched. "Y-Yeah. I guess you're right." He looked down in shame.

Gohan climbed out of the racecar bed. Turning to Snowy, Gohan gave him a patient smile. "It's okay Snowy, don't feel bad." The snowdrake's expression lifted a little. The boy continued, "So what happened when I passed out?"

Loox chattered his teeth nervously. "W-Well. You fell down. Snowy and I were so confused. Eventually the tall skeleton, Papyrus, ran over to us to make sure you were okay or if you simply napping. When you didn't stir, the skeleton became afraid and called for the short brother. The one called Sans instructed his brother to carry him and for all of us to follow him. In no time we arrived into the town of Snowdin."

Snowy continued, somewhat excitedly. "So he led us to HIS HOUSE. Oh my God they have such cool stuff. I even got to see Sans' sock!" His excitement dropped when he caught Loox's disapproving gaze. "Anyway, Papyrus brought you up here to his room and we waited for you to wake up. Eventually Loox and I went downstairs to watch some TV, but Papyrus insisted on keeping an eye on you. He even let us have whatever we wanted to eat from the kitchen."

Loox gave a toothy grin to Snowy. "The spaghetti was good."

The bird rolled his eyes. "Um, no it wasn't! I took one bite of it. Not doing that ever again."

Papyrus' voice rang out loud enough for them to hear. "LOOX, SNOWY. DO YOU WANT ME TO PACK UP YOUR LEFTOVERS?"

"Y-Yes, please!"

"NO! No, thank you."

"NYEH HEH HEH! VERY WELL!"

Laughing, Gohan stretched his tired body. He glanced at the floating Chara. There was an unreadable expression on their face. Within moments, Papyrus returned with three Tupperware containers of spaghetti. "HUMAN! YOUR RESILIENCE IS ADMIRABLE! I HAVE BROUGHT EACH OF YOU SPAGHETTI FOR YOUR LUNCHES. NO NEED TO THANK ME, I AM VERY GREAT!"

Loox and Gohan's faces lifted, but Snowy's fell.

"B-But I said I didn't want any leftovers…"

Papyrus approached Snowy handing him his share. "WORRY NOT, MY BIRD FRIEND. I KNOW YOU ARE SIMPLY TOO SHY TO ASK FOR MORE BECAUSE YOU DO NOT THINK YOU DESERVE SUCH A CULINARY MASTERPIECE. IT IS THE REASON YOU ONLY TOUCHED YOUR FOOD IN THE FIRST PLACE. I, THE GREAT MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, WILL ALWAYS SERVE YOU DELICIOUS FOODS, NO MATTER WHAT." Papyrus had a grand and joyous expression on.

Even Snowy couldn't say no to that. He took his spaghetti and resolved to try it again, later.

The tall skeleton gifted the spaghetti to Loox and Gohan, who took them with excitement. It looked really good! The three of them packed their lunches in Gohan's bag. Papyrus folded his arms. "MY BROTHER HAS TEXTED ME BACK, HE WILL MAKE HIS WAY HERE SOON AFTER WORK. IN THE MEANTIME, LET'S GO DOWNSTAIRS."

Papyrus led the three friends out of the door and Gohan got a glimpse of the house. Halfway down the stairs, Gohan heard a door close from above. Sans had just left a room upstairs. Papyrus did a double take.

"SANS! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE AT WORK RIGHT NOW?!"

Sans winked at his brother. "don't worry bro, i am. hey kid, good to see you up." Gohan smiled in response.

"OH. OH OKAY GOOD." Papyrus turned back to Gohan. "HUMAN, ARE YOU READY TO CONTINUE WHERE WE LEFT OFF?""

Chara's voice sounded in Gohan's head. "Oh my God. Gohan, say no. Say no."

The boy closed his eyes and thought inwardly. "But it'll make him happy. Come on, please?" He didn't get a verbal response. Looking up at Chara, they wore a very pouty face.

Papyrus cleared his throat. "UM, HUMAN?"

Gohan started. "Oh yes! I would like to very much!"

The tall skeleton shook excitedly. "VERY WELL, I CANNOT DENY YOU THEN. LET US BE OFF."

Papyrus lead the four down the stairs. Grabbing the door's knob, he paused.

"BLAST! IF WE WALK PAST GRILLBYS…"

Sans chuckled. "what's wrong bro?"

"WELL, I DON'T WANT THE OTHER SENTRIES TO SEE THE HUMAN. WHAT IF THEY TRY TO CAPTURE IT?"

"yeah that could be a problem. hey i know, there's a shortcut this way." Sans pointed to the tiled room behind them.

"AH YES, YOU HAVE A KNACK FOR FINDING GOOD SHORTCUTS, LEAD THE WAY BROTHER!"

Sans lead the four into the tiled room, Papyrus, Loox, and Snowy following after him.

Chara landed in front of Gohan, blocking his way. "I can't believe you're going along with this. Why are you going BACK there? We need to go FORWARD." Hands on their hips, they tapped their ghostly foot on the floor.

Gohan peered away shyly. "I didn't want to make him sad."

The ghost child poked Gohan in the chest, sending chills down his spine. "If you don't start listening to ME, you're going to end up DEAD." With that, Chara followed the others. Gohan waited a moment, and then followed suit.

Stepping into what looked like a kitchen, the image quickly changed to outdoors. He found himself right where he passed out. Right where the tile puzzle was taking place.

"-WHERE COULD THE PUZZLE HAVE GONE?!"

Gohan blinked. Papyrus and Sans were looking upon an empty space where the boxed machine was. Sans had been touching it before he passed out, but now it's gone.

Papyrus let out a whine. "WHO COULD HAVE DONE THIS?!"

The little boy felt an odd urge to comfort the dejected skeleton. He rushed across the grey floor tiles and comforted Papyrus, much to Papyrus' surprise. "Don't worry mister Papyrus, you still have other puzzles, right?"

Sans pat his brother on the back. "the kid's right, pap. cheer up, you still have the gauntlet."

The tall skeleton bounced right back. "YES OF COURSE. WE'LL CALL THIS PUZZLE CLEARED BY DEFAULT, THE GUANTLET WILL SURELY STUMP YOU, HUMAN. I'LL SEE YOU THERE! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus bolted away with new-found fervor.

Sans closed his eyesockets. "hey, gohan."

The young boy glanced at the shorter skeleton. "Uh huh?"

"thanks for being so nice to pap. he's having a ton of fun."

Giggling, the boy nodded. "It's no bother. I like him."

Sans leaned over playfully. "would you say he's cool?"

Without hesitation, Gohan nodded. "Yup! He's really cool."

Laughing, the skeleton pat Gohan on the back. "you've got good taste, gohan. i'll see you later." Giving him a wink, Sans followed his brother.

Gohan led Snowy and Loox to the direction where the brothers had gone. His heart sank upon seeing Lesser Dog. It rose back up when Lesser Dog glanced at them, barked happily, and continued doing his work.

There was a huge pillar of snow in the middle of the clearing, piercing the heavens. Lesser Dog continued to add to it making it larger and larger. At the top of the pillar was a Dog's face. He couldn't help but appreciate the  art. He gave Lesser Dog a pat on the head, much to Loox and Snowy's dismay. Gohan was careful to not pet him again, however.

Moving past the Lesser Dog and his masterpiece, they arrived at a puzzle. The area was covered in ice and X's littered the place. Frowning, there were no brothers or instructions anywhere.

Snowy pointed to the opposite end of the ice. "I recognize this place. We need to go that way."

"But the puzzle blocks us…" Loox murmured.

"Yeah... it wasn't activated when I came through though..."

The three all tried at once, trying to complete the puzzle. They began taking turns, but no matter what they did, they couldn't figure out what they needed to do.

"Oh for the love of God, give me control."

Gohan flinched. Chara was behind him, arms folded. Gohan took advantage of this time alone as his friends were attempting the puzzle by themselves. "Give you control? What… do you mean?"

Chara growled. "I'll take over your body temporarily. You'll be a ghost for a little bit, while I'll be inside you."

The boy looked down, not fully understanding. "Um… this doesn't feel right, I'm scare-"

They snapped at the young boy. "Of what? We're just going to trade places!"

Whimpering, Gohan examined the puzzle again. He still couldn't figure it out and he could tell his friends couldn't either. Loox and Snowy were failing again. "Can't you just tell me what to do?"

Chara covered their face in annoyance. "Gohan. That would take too long. Just let me take over. You can always take back control."

The boy frowned. "You promise? You'll give me control back?"

They clenched their teeth, remembering what had happened before. "Not like I have a choice, it's your god damned body." Their plan had failed because of that one fatal moment, because they couldn't have full control. "Just wait to take it back until after I'm done," Chara added bitterly.

Gohan nodded. "Okay, you can. "

He relinquished control of his body and felt Chara enter him. He felt himself float out, not as a soul but as an incorporeal being like Chara. It felt strange, he was now a spirit outside of his body. All the floaty things Chara did, he could do now. It was just like the dream from before. He snapped back to reality at the sight of his body moving.

It was so weird. Chara in Gohan's body cracked their neck left and right. What were once youthful, gentle eyes were now narrow and determined. Stretching, they made very satisfied noises. "About time" came Gohan's voice. It was a very confident and strong, contrasting to the weak and simpering tone Gohan usually had. The floating ghost boy couldn't help but feel uneasy.

A commanding shout came from Gohan. "Hey, you two. Get out of the ice."

The two were surprised at that new accent, but complied. Chara quickly began the puzzle. Within moments, the path to the other side opened. Chara slid Gohan's body to the other side and walked forward at a brisk pace. Despite that, Gohan's friends caught up with them quickly.

Gohan heard Chara's thoughts. "You can take your body back." Gohan nodded slowly and reoccupied his body, ejecting Chara.

This feels much more natural. But he felt bad for Chara having to float behind them not being able to interact with anyone but him. He didn't get much time to think much else before his friends reached him.

"Gohan, that was amazing. You figured it out so suddenly."

A winged pat came from Snowy. "Haha. Jeez, that was a good one."

Gohan couldn't help but feel guilty taking Chara's credit. He opened his mouth to tell them when Chara suddenly descended in front of him. "DO NOT TELL THEM ABOUT ME."

Gohan cried out and fell backwards, much to the confusion of his friends. Getting back up, he thought to Chara, "Why not"? All he got in response was the feeling of white hot fury. Gohan sniffled, not wanting to push it further. "O-Okay", he thought inwardly.

Folding their arms, Chara glared at him. "Good."

The three pressed forward, passing several snow poffs. Near the horizon stood four dogs huddled together. One was very shifty eyed, two were hooded, and one was absolutely massive. Gohan and Loox didn't know what to make of the sight, but Snowy did. He backed away slowly.

Snowy spoke in a hushed voice. "G-Guys. That's the canine unit of the Royal Guard. Like, all of them except Lesser Dog…"

Gohan and Loox started and they backed away as well. However, the shifty eyed dog in bizarre pants jumped. "Something moved! Over there!"

The two hooded dogs' ears perked up. A female voice came from one of them. "Moving?" They both sniffed audibly into the air. "Hmm. It does smell different. Babe, let's find it. Greater Dog, stand guard, make sure nothing passes here!"

The massive guard gave a salute and barked in a high pitch. The three dogs then sniffed around, trying to find them. Loox and Gohan froze, but Snowy bolted to the opposite end, catching the shifty dog's attention.

"You there, moving thing!" The shifty dog practically charged Snowy. The light bird flinched.

"H-Hello mister D-Doggo, it's me, Snowy…" Snowy stammered out.

"Oh…false alarm here." The Doggo whined, obviously irritated. "I'm gonna need some dog treats for this." He proceeded to put a dog treat in his mouth and lit it up.

Meanwhile, the two hooded dogs circled around Loox and Gohan. "We found something here. What's that smell!?" The male of the two dogs growled. "If you're a smell, identify yoursmelf!"

Gohan and Loox stood frozen in fear, much to Chara's irritation. However, noticing that Gohan was incapacitated by the fear, Loox gulped and stammered out. "M-My name is Loox. I-I come from the ruins."

The female dog sniffed in Loox's direction. "I see. You smell of a ruins monster. Who is your companion?" The nose sniffed in Gohan's direction. She growled menacingly. "He smells of a human who came from the ruins."

Loox pat Gohan several times. "He's my f-friend, and yes, he's a h-human."

The three dogs gasped, and surrounded the small boy, circling him. They shoved the surprised Loox away. Gohan's soul floated out of his body involuntarily.

Doggo sniffed the human as they circled him. "It's true. It smells like a human. Dogamy, Dogaressa, we need to capture it."

The male dog bared his teeth. "This smell, it makes me want to eliminate…"

The female dog snapped at Gohan. "ELIMINATE YOU!"

Doggo raised both of his short swords while Dogamy and Dogarresa each raised their axes.

Chara folded their arms wearing a frown. "Move, you big baby." Chara's words fell onto deaf ears as Gohan dropped his bag, fell into a fetal position and cried for help. The weapons descended upon the crying boy.

Loox's bullets could only stop Doggo's short swords while the twin axes connected with Gohan's soul. The boy's soul was hurt, but not overtly so. Loox picked Gohan up and retreated to Snowy, who recoiled a little. Snowy looked clearly uncomfortable. The canine unit followed the moving targets.

Dogamy barked out to the three. "Loox! That human's soul is wanted by the king! Give it back!"

Setting the boy aside, the one eyed monster blocked the unit's way. "N-No." Loox braced themselves. "You're going to have to get through m-me."

The canine unit froze for a moment at the odd sight of a monster protecting a human. They huddled together and barked amongst themselves. Doggo stepped forward and pointed at the shivering Snowy. "Hey kid, grab the human and get over here."

Snowy made a noise akin to a squeal and a bird squawk. Loox narrowed his eye at him. "Don't." He said, chittering his teeth. Frantically looking to Loox, Gohan, and the canine unit, Snowy covered his face with his wings and ran past Greater Dog. Greater Dog gave chase to the fleeing bird. Snowy's voice echoed, "I can't do it!"

Loox conjured more of his bullets to surround them both defensively. With the loss of Snowy, things looked bad. "Stay behind me, friend."

The boy looked warily to the three dogs, now re-huddled together speaking to each other in hushed barks. He noticed Chara had floated above them, listening to them intently. He wondered what they could be talking about. Why did Snowy run away? Gohan struggled to get back up, dusting off snow from his robe.

The three dogs broke from their huddle, Doggo spitting his dog treat onto the ground. Chara floated back to Gohan with an extremely amused expression. Dogaressa sighed irritably. "I don't like this." Dogamy immediately went to comfort her. "I don't either darling, but if he's in our way… monster or not…"

Gohan's stomach dropped. What… what did they just decide on? He heard Chara cackling. "I've never seen a monster DELIBERATELY attack another monster. This should be good." Fear set in, he had to get out of here.

The dogs charged the two before Gohan could even suggest fleeing. Chara watched on in interest as all three dogs directed their attacks on Loox instead of Gohan. The boy could only watch as his friend who couldn't react quickly enough get blown away from a harsh attack. His insides froze at Chara's whistle.

"Damn. They didn't hold back a bit. Hey, Gohan?" Chara grinned at the boy. "If you're not going to fight, you'd better run. They're going to kill us."

He ran, but not in retreat. Gohan couldn't stomach abandoning his friend. However, several blue and white hearts flew at him, blowing him backwards upon impact. The little boy struggled to get onto his feet. He didn't know what to do anymore.

Loox had also gotten up. Doggo was occupying the one eyed monster, dodging Loox's attacks and knocking the one eyed monster down. Folding his arms, Doggo began to smoke another dog treat. "Kid, you're up against the elite Royal Guard. Give up and you won't be taken in with the human."

The ruins monster chittered his teeth in defiance. "N-No", he managed, sending a weak flurry of bullets upon Doggo. The dog easily evaded his attack and knocked him down again without disturbing his smoky treat.

Gohan had his hands full with the dog pair trying to kill him. Somehow, he desperately dodged each heart projectile and axe swing from connecting his body and soul. He had to get to Loox somehow and help him, to get them to stop hurting him. However, it was everything he could do to just dodge them.

He heard Chara sigh. "Let me take over. You're hopeless."

Gohan cried, one of their axes landing a clean hit on him. He collapsed onto the ground. After getting pounded on by attacks, his soul was near its breaking point. Gohan begged to Chara inwardly. "Help us, please…!"

They couldn't help but smile evilly in response before ejecting Gohan from their body.

Gohan's soul turned from pink to red.

Picking themselves up, Chara assessed their soul and body. They shambled towards Gohan's discarded bag. Dogamy blocked their way, axe raised.

"Nowhere to run, H-"

The dog couldn't break their gait. Chara glared at him. Pure bloodthirst screamed in their eyes. Dogamy hesitantly retreated to a confused Dogaressa.

Reaching their bag, they grabbed a Tupperware container containing Papyrus' spaghetti. Ripping it open, they scarfed it down like an animal. Ball of spaghetti clutched in Gohan's tiny hands brought into his open mouth. The sauce covered his mouth and hands like a messy, deranged child.

"Revolting", they growled. However, they thought inwardly, it did manage to heal enough HP. Chara dropped the empty Tupperware in disgust and made their way to Loox. Doggo blocked them.

"What… what is this chill… who's there?!" The dog stammered out, surveying the area madly.

Gohan's stride continued uninterrupted, shoving Doggo into the snow. They reached a beaten and battered Loox and helped them up.

Weak little pest, Chara thought to themself. This was Gohan's wish, however. They clenched their teeth angrily. It would be in their best interest to keep the little brat happy.

Loox was silent. He could tell something was wrong with his friend. The weakened monster couldn't do anything about it, however. His HP had dipped down to critical levels.

The canine unit had regrouped and began charging the human child with new-found fury. Chara couldn't help but laugh at the three idiots charging to their own deaths. They tapped into this body's hidden power.

Gohan watched the scene unfold with anticipation. At first, he thought Chara couldn't handle these three elites charging them. However, in a flash, Chara leaped into them.

Within a moment, all three of the canine units were on the ground, scattered in different directions. There was a little bit of recoil damage however, Chara winced upon landing. Horrified, Gohan floated alongside Chara who was approaching one of the fallen dogs. "What did you do?!"

Chara ignored the boy's stupid question. They pointed at the twitching tail. A female voice was panting quietly. "I'm not going to let it end so tastelessly."

Gohan sighed in relief. Relief quickly turned to alarm when Chara sat down on Dogaressa's chest. The little boy's bottom covered the image of her lover's face. The weakened female dog whined feebly, too injured to fight back but not enough to be unconscious. Sitting upright, Chara inspected their nails. They weren't really sharp enough to impale her cleanly, but they'd make do. Raising their hand, fingers erect, the hand descended.


	7. Chapter 7

They walked down the path from the barrier separating the underground and the rest of the world. The tall white creature with curved horns, long ears, and visible fangs moved automatically, going between trees and passing familiar sights. They knew exactly where they were headed. It was wearing a long robe with the Delta Rune on it and a locket in the shape of a heart. In their arms was a child wearing a green and yellow striped shirt, brown pants, and shoes. The child was devoid of life, being cradled by this intimidating creature.

Chara had taken control of the tall and handsome monster. Both their and Asriels souls had merged, and now both spirits resided inside this one body. Asriel sat in his mind-space, watching his friend take full control of their body. It wasn't that they gave them absolute control though, Chara simply knew the area outside the barrier and Asriel didn't. He would take a turn after his friend once their task is done. Their control was split, so this would work out nicely.

Arriving at the village, the monster paused. Frowning in the mind-space, Asriel glanced over at the quiet community. They had told him how much their village had hurt them. Chara knew the legends about how anyone who climbs Mt. Ebott is never seen again, but despite that they still arrived in the underground. It nearly broke his heart hearing it back then, but now that they were forced to face the same people again...

The goat boy whispered inwardly, "Maybe we can find some Golden Flowers… somewhere else?"

A deep voice belonging to the now matured and powerful monster responded, "No. Remember the first part of our plan."

Asriel whined quietly. They hadn't forgotten it, but wanted to stall and avoid it. Taking his mind off of the blatant murders they were about to commit, their actions would have positive results. Everyone would be free, and he and his friend would be together forever.

The humans weren't oblivious to the imposing monster strolling through their village. Asriel heard whispers from them. Hushed whispers surrounding them giving the goat boy a very uninvited feeling.

They finally reached the center where the golden flowers grew in a beautiful circle. Humans began to gather around them, trying to make sense of the situation. Their whispers became audible enough to understand.

"What is that? Is it a monster?!"

"I think it is… who's that child in its arms?"

"Oh… could that be…?"

"It's Chara! I thought that little runt ran away!"

"Only to get killed and captured and lead the beast back here, that rat!"

Fury resonated from his friend, Asriel could feel it. While the villagers were speaking amongst themselves, the handsome monster face broke into a wild grin. They threw the corpse onto the flowerbed with enough impact to damage the body. They took that as an act of aggression. Angry yells, insults, and hatred came from the humans in response. Eventually, they began to throw rocks at the monster.

Chara responded with a blast wave knocking them all away. Some of them retreated into their homes, others fled scattering in different directions.

Asriel gasped at the damage his friend had done. No human had been killed, but what had been the point of such an act?

Chara's thoughts found Asriel. "Soon, we're going to free them all, partner."

Guns, pitchforks, sticks, torches, the humans had come back with more firepower and renewed determination. There were even more of them now. Asriel gaped and felt frustration. The humans had gathered into a mob, there's no way they'd be able to get six souls without harming the rest.

"Chara… this is bad. We can't do this."

"We're going to kill them all now, Asriel."

"But we only need six more to break the barrie-"

"We're going to kill them all. They're ALL evil. ALL of humanity, understand?" They rained down shooting stars, stirring more chaos among the humans.

The villagers did not flee. Resisting Chara's attacks, they pressed forward, attacking the monster with everything they had. Nothing connected. Chara laughed at them, toying with them.

Asriel heard his friend's thoughts again. "If we free monster-kind, what's stopping the humans from just attacking again? They haven't changed, partner."

The monster danced in the sky, dodging all of their attacks gracefully. The villagers did not have a unicycles chance in Hotland against them. Chara morphed their arm into a cannon and let loose. Flurries of magical attacks shot out of the arm cannon, until they let loose an ultra-powerful beam of pure magic. The sadistic child intentionally missed the fatal blows, but caused enough damage to bring some of the humans to their breaking point. Still, the humans did not fear and continued to press forward despite the injuries.

Having grown bored of the human's flimsy attacks, Chara decided to do something showy for the finishing blow. Forcing up all their magic inside Asriel's body, they were going to use their full power to eradicate all the humans in the village at once. They cackled madly while their friend felt every bit of their intentions.

Asriel shouted, "No… no! They don't deserve this, Chara! Don't do this thing!"

Chara ignored Asriel and continued, resolving to kill every human on Earth once they were finished here.

Then it happened. Asriel tried to wrestle control away from Chara. What was strange was that it took almost no effort on Asriel's part. The intent to eject Chara from control was so great that Chara was ejected from their mind-space entirely, leaving their spirit floating alongside Asriel's adult body.

He stopped the attack before it could be unleashed. Asriel, surprised at himself, stole a glance at Chara. They wore a very rare expression of shock, not knowing what had happened. Their eyes met, both equally bemused.

Their rare bewilderment quickly turned into the much more common expression of anger.

"Asriel! What are you doing?!" They yelled out, trying to regain control of the body. No matter what Chara did however, Asriel decided to not allow Chara to usurp control. The incorporeal child floating alongside Asriel yelled out in fury at this turn of events. Because the body had originally belonged to Asriel, his control overruled Chara's.

The humans continued pressing their attacks, and without the dodging Chara, their attacks began to connect. Ignoring the pain from the blows, Asriel picked up his best friend's corpse, ignoring Chara's protests.

They walked away from the village, carrying the child gingerly. Gunshots and pitchforks kept coming well after they left the village. Asriel had roughly remembered how to get back. Chara's yells to fight back or to at least dodge increased with more and more hysteria as their HP fell to critical levels. At last, they returned to the exit of the underground and re-entered.

The monster had hit 0HP roughly halfway on their way back to their home, but with sheer determination Asriel had pressed forward. Chara followed him the whole way, defeated. Moving past the throne room and into the garden, they collapsed.

"Chara…"

The floating child winced at their name being used. Their plan had failed, hadn't it?

Chara glared at their so called partner. "What?"

"Don't be mad… this was for the best…"

They lost their composure and pounced on top of the dying monster. Face to face, they shouted and reprimanded them for ruining everything. However, Asriel couldn't hear them anymore. Their vision and hearing failing, they focused on their friend.

The very last thing Asriel saw was Chara's face doing that goofy smile. Whether it was an illusion or not he didn't have the chance to ponder, for he spread into dust all over the flowers.

Chara was alone, their soul resonating with Asriel's. With the body disappearing, both souls unmerged and floated side by side. Their red soul and Asriel's white soul would both soon crack and disappear without a host. They cursed their misfortune. They cursed humanity. They even cursed monster-kind for giving them the hope to enact their revenge upon humanity only for them to wrench it away.

The souls shuddered violently, and then split in half.

If they had another chance, they would want to kill them all.

The souls split into several pieces, and Chara was no more.

* * *

"No! Don't!"

Chara floated outside of Gohan's body. Forcibly ejected from the body again, the same expression of shock was plastered on their face. Gohan had tried to push their body off of Dogaressa. Instead of shoving his own body away, the boy had reclaimed his body. Chara regained their composure, but seethed on the inside.

They folded their arms, feigning mere annoyance. "What are you doing?"

The boy sniffled, his pink soul floating nearby. He gingerly got off of the dog and checked to see if she was okay. Tears in his eyes, Gohan blubbered at the stirring dog. "I-I'm sorry… I didn't… you…" Gohan's pink soul had returned inside of him, the fighting was over.

Chara growled. "They were trying to kill you, you idiot."

The boy thought inwardly. "I-I don't want to hurt anyone…"

They sighed, now actually annoyed. "In this world, it's kill or be killed. Without me, you would be dead right now."

Cold realization washed over Gohan. Even though he didn't want to fight, as long as the other person wanted to fight, he'd be forced to defend himself. Gohan shook his head. But surely that didn't mean he would need to kill everyone right? What about Loox, Snowy, Papyrus, and Sans? He didn't want to believe Chara and Flowey, but it was becoming harder to do so.

Chara sighed, visibly trying not to snap at the boy. "Look, you just put me in a really bad mood. I'm gonna take a nap or something." They floated into Gohan's body, the boy shivering at the feeling. It seemed that Chara had decided to voluntarily return to Gohan's subconscious.

A low male growl startled the boy. "You..."

Gohan lept in surprise, scurrying away from the armed hooded dog. Instead of outright attacking the boy, the hooded figure began to recover his fallen partner.

Dogamy growled at the human, holding his lover over his shoulder. "You think you can just knock us down and be done with it? We're the royal guard!" Doggo limped forward joining them, swords poised.

Gohan whined in protest. "No more fighting! I don't want to hurt anyone!"

The male axe wielding dog faltered a moment, but after hearing his lover's whine he recouped himself. "Hah! After what you did to us not just a few minutes ago?! A fluke, but we won't fall for it again!" The boy cried out, feeling his soul about to pop out of his body again.

Four long, pearly white, juicy bones soared over all of their heads.

They did not go unnoticed, as all three of the dogs were suddenly revitalized. As if forgetting Gohan was even there the Canine Unit charged after the bones. Shortly after they left, Greater Dog ran past Gohan and Loox, chasing the bones as well.

"HUMAN! THIS WAY, QUICKLY."

Gohan faced the direction of the familiar voice. Where Greater Dog once stood guard was Papyrus and a guilty looking Snowy. Loox and Gohan quickly ran to reach them.

"Mister Papyrus!"

"HUMAN! EATING MY SPAGHETTI IN THE MIDDLE OF BATTLE?! A CUNNING AND EXCELLENT DECISION!"

Gohan tilted his head in confusion, but then remembered what Chara had done. He was a mess, spaghetti sauce was all over him.

"Ah… well…"

"DON'T WORRY HUMAN, THERE'S PLENTY MORE AT MY HOUSE! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Snowy, Loox, and Gohan followed Papyrus across a bridge. While walking, Gohan noticed Loox stealing glances at him. Loox would quickly look away if they made eye contact. Was something wrong?

Halfway through the bridge they could see a waiting Sans. At that moment, Papyrus turned on them.

"OKAY, WAIT HERE PLEASE, THE FINAL AND MOST IMPRESSIVE PUZZLE WILL BEGIN!"

After all the action Gohan just had to endure, a puzzle was extremely welcome. Loox and Snowy seemed to agree, and they all waited while Papyrus walked across the bridge to stand next to his brother. Gohan was hoping for a mental puzzle. Perhaps another word puzzle, or guess how many boards make up the bridge…

"NYEH HEH HEH! BEHOLD THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!"

Gohan's jaw dropped. Loox covered his eye. Snowy cried. All of their hopes and dreams crushed as Papyrus unveiled his gauntlet. Weapons hung overhead, and spears, fire, and a cannon were on the bottom. Fate is cruel.

"WHEN I GIVE THE WORD, THE TRAP WILL ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL RE…MAIN…"

Papyrus pondered for a moment, eyeing his challengers up and down.

"HUMAN!"

Gohan shakily matched his intense gaze. "Y-Yes?"

"DO YOU PERHAPS FIND THIS CHALLENGE TOO DIFFICULT? MAYBE UNFAIR?"

Gohan felt Snowy and Loox grip and pull on him. Weakly, he nodded.

Papyrus eyed his deathtrap once more. He began to stroke his chin with his gloved hand, pondering. Sans nudged his brother, making Papyrus start and glance down at him.

"something wrong, bro?"

"I DON'T WANT TO USE THIS PUZZLE. I CONCUR WITH THE HUMAN. IN THE EVENT OF THE HUMAN FAILING, THEN…" Papyrus turned from his brother.

Sans' smile widened as he pat his brother's back. "there there pap. the kid's real lucky to have such a cool, thoughtful guy like you as his opponent."

Papyrus bounced back rather quickly. "YES." Papyrus waved the trap away and faced the human, fire in his eyesockets. "HUMAN, NO, WORTHY ADVERSARY. I WILL NOT INSULT YOU WITH SUCH A PUZZLE, INSTEAD, I WILL CAPTURE YOU MYSELF! CONTINUE FORWARD ONLY IF YOU DARE!"

He began to run away, but froze in his tracks. Without turning to face Sans, Papyrus spoke. "BROTHER, I'LL NEED YOU FOR THIS."

Sans shrugged. "alright bro. i'll meetcha before the human does."

"I'M COUNTING ON YOU, BROTHER." He resumed his sprint, creating a rainbow and falling snow in his wake.

"counting on me, huh? jeez pap."

Gohan and the others crossed the remainder of the bridge and met Sans. The boy noticed that Snowy seemed much more comfortable with the legendary comedian. Sans withdrew his right hand from his hoodie and pat Gohan on the head, causing the boy to giggle.

"kid, you're giving my bro the time of his life." He said, winking at Gohan.

"Really? I was just having fun with him." The boy didn't think he was doing anyone any favors, but was happy nevertheless.

"P-Pet me too, Sans, sir!" Snowy croaked.

Loox, Sans, and Gohan all stared at the snowdrake.

Upon realizing how awkward that was, Snowy sputtered. "HEY! It was a JOKE! LAUGH AT IT!"

* * *

"Golly. Look at them go."

The little golden flower watched the scene unfold. They all looked so happy.

A twisted smile spread across his face. They were his playthings. He was God. At the slightest whim, he could tear them all away from this touching little scene. At his command, time itself would go back and they would all go back to being strangers to each other.

Flowey cackled at his own musings. This would be a good place for a SAVE, wouldn't it? So much time had gone by since he first attained the power to LOAD. How many years has it been now? It didn't really matter. Having mastered the ability, the greatest boon was the unlocking of the multiple SAVE states. An anchor in the very beginning, when he woke up. He'd never overwrite that SAVE. Not for any kind of nostalgic value, but because it was the earliest he could go. It proved useful before, and would in the future, he felt.

This would be a good time to set up another anchor, his third SAVE state.

Having saved and dispelling the menu, the flower sighed. The group had left. He should be returning to the old hag right about now to report what he's seen. Well, his version of it anyway.

With a crafty little grin, the flower tried to tunnel underground. Nothing happened.

"What the hell?"

"hey."

Flowey felt himself being uprooted by gravity magic. Flailing wildly, he stilled himself at the skeleton. Uncontrollable rage filled the flower.

"NO. NOT YOU. NOT YOU."

Sans tilted his head curiously. "well, that's not a reaction you give a pal. a talking flower huh?"

"YOU GARBAGE, YOU PIECE OF TRASH, YOU…"

Sans' grin widened, materializing a Gaster Blaster behind him. He winked at the flower who continued to freak out. "welp, won't have to worry about this subplot anymore." The canine skeleton charged an intensely powerful energy beam.

"GNAAAAAAAAAARRRG-"

The blast incinerated the flower.

GAME OVER. Load.

Immediately after the LOAD, Flowey tried to dig underfoot. A fuzzy slipper pinned down his stem.

"SMILEY…. TRASHBAG…." Flowey roared.

"yo."

Crushed underfoot by a grinning, scumbag skeleton wearing fuzzy slippers. While darkness enveloped his vision again, he noted that this was probably in his top ten most embarrassing deaths.

GAME OVER. Load.

He knew where the skeleton was. He could take him by surprise. Upon loading the state, he shot out several bullets behind him. Attacking wildly and frantically, Flowey just wanted the bastard dead. After his barrage was finished, the flower scanned the area. No sign of him.

A sigh of relief escaped the flower.

"i think you got it."

Fear ran down his stem. Sans' skeletal fingers wrapped around him and plucked him from the ground. Until the next reset, he didn't have much more fight left in him.

"so how many times have i caught you?"

Flowey whimpered in response. "L-Leaf me alone…"

Sans' pupils looked away from the flower. "aw, that was a good one too."

The canine-like skull manifested itself again, charging its hellish blast. Flowey closed his eyes.

He felt himself being thrown into the air, and then all he felt was searing pain.

GAME OVER. Load…

Standing in a field of flowers in the throne room, Flowey decided to retreat for the time being. He had opted to load here to collect himself. His first save state, his safe place. Time passed, the flower slowly but surely calmed down.

"I don't need to kill him." He said, after a while.

Attacks, retreats, and jokes won't get him out of this. He'd rather not reset further back and have to go through convincing Toriel to trust him again. Thinking, he planned a script in his head to avoid the skeleton. What could he say to prompt this trash to let him go?

He could name drop Toriel, but that would prompt the skeleton to check on her. He needed her for his plans. Maybe he could be subtle? No. Subtlety didn't work on that guy. How many times has Flowey gotten caught in his own web of lies with that guy? The answer is too many times. Too many times that he has outright avoided him ever since his intentions shifted. The skeleton was too damn smart for his own good. The question was if he could win him over like he did in the past.

Flowey grinned to himself. Thankfully in this go-around he hadn't done anything too malicious yet. Honestly, his only crime so far was messing with Papyrus. He wondered how many tries it would take to get past him. In the past, it had been bordering on impossible to hide from Sans' analyzing gaze. Several life-times worth of timelines, however, proved that it was possible to deceive the scumbag. Chuckling, he brought up his menu again.

QUITTING… Load.

The flower heaved a little sigh.

"Alright then. Good. Time to head back."

Flowey tried to burrow downwards, but was propelled upwards again. He wasn't surprised, but he feigned it.

"Um… what?"

"hey."

Turning around, Flowey glanced at Sans with a confused expression, but then quickly lit up.

"Oh, um. Howdy? I'm Flowey, just came from the ruins. Are you, uh, stopping me?"

"yeah, was kinda wondering what you were doing there, little buddy." He winked at him. The small flower repressed an urge to vomit. Flowey hated him so much.

"Ahuh. Well, I was just stalking the human. What might your name be?" He questioned hesitantly.

"sans. sans the skeleton." He leaned in close, causing the flower to reflexively back away.

"C-Could you maybe let me go here? It's really uncomfortable, Sans."

"sorry kid, bear with it. sentry business, y'know."

"Sentry? you mean like the dogs that attacked the human?" Of course he knew the sentries. However, he has to keep his story straight at all times in front of the skeleton. Hailing from the ruins, he wouldn't know him, Papyrus, the sentries, or anyone else outside of the ruins.

The skeleton's eyes tore themselves away from the flower, keeping his disgusting grin. "sorta. they're also royal guard." His eyes relocked themselves on the flower. "so you were watching then too, huh?"

Flowey visibly drooped. "Yeah, that human, Gohan, was something. I wasn't sure if he would finish them or not."

Sans didn't acknowledge his statement. Staring at the flower, he leaned in uncomfortably close to be face to face. His hands exited his hoodie's pockets. His pupils vanished. "So, are you the one messing with my brother?"

Thankfully, Flowey was expecting that one. Keep the story straight. "I just got here! W-what do you mean?" He said, defensively.

The skeleton didn't answer. Flowey allowed himself to fear the skeleton, shaking a little under his gaze. He screamed in his own head not to show too much innocence, not to ham it up, otherwise he'd be incinerated again and have to start the whole thing from the top. What was most convincing was getting defensive, and then recoiling in fear.

"M-Mister… y-you're scaring me…" Flowey didn't allow their locked eyes to be broken. Looking away during a stare down would mean his end. The skeletal clown wasn't making small talk before, he was assessing Flowey under normal conditions. If he looked away when under pressure, that would make him look suspicious, as if he was lying. He knew that Sans knew this. The infernal skeleton was too damn smart.

Flowey timed their stare-down, and after several seconds, he let out a little whimper and closed his eyes. Almost immediately after, the pressure he felt was gone. Sans had backed off, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. He also felt the gravity bindings fall off. As tempting as it was to retreat now, it would only give the skeleton reason to catch him next time.

"huh, sorry, pal. i mistook you for a creep."

Flowey let out a huge sigh of relief. In his head, not infront of Sans, as that would be suicide. Instead, Flowey peaked with one eye, and upon seeing the withdrawn skeleton scum with his back to him, he opened up both his eyes and relaxed. He repressed an urge to attack him now while his guard was down. That would be stupid, though. Sans' guard was never down. Flowey had learned this the hard way after a couple of 'openings'.

"I-It's okay. I think you mean well?" The stutter was obviously forced. As well as verbalizing his statement as a question would cement Flowey's innocence in the eyes of the skeleton. He had to remind himself that he wasn't safe yet.

Sans shrugged. "y'know, you're the first talking flower i've ever seen. besides echo flowers i mean."

Flowey chuckled weakly. "Y-Yeah, but I'm a bit different. As you can see, I'm not blue."

Sans grinned at him darkly, his pupils gone again."So you're familiar with Echo Flowers."

The skeleton is too smart.

GAME OVER. Load…

Flowey did the exact same thing as before, then found himself back where he was before his previous fatal mistake.

Sans shrugged. "y'know, you're the first talking flower i've ever seen. besides echo flowers i mean."

Flowey hesitated a moment. "You mean… there's others like me?" He tried to sound only a little bit hopeful.

"nah. sorry, but they're just flowers that echo the last thing said near them, until they're white noise. you, my chum, are unique." Sans shrugged. "anyway, don't be a stalker, that's weird." He winked at Flowey.

"Well, I was helping a friend, that's all! Leaf me alone!" Flowey stuck his tongue out at Sans and burrowed underground before the skeleton could stop him.

Just to be safe, a new SAVE state here would be best.

* * *

 

Of course, the skeleton could stop him even as he was burrowing. He even wanted to, there was information to be had. However, Sans figured to harass a seemingly innocent flower even more was bordering on mean. He chuckled at the flower's joke, he hadn't heard that one before. They'd meet again, he knew it. Putting his hands in his hoodie pockets again, Sans took a shortcut to meet up with his brother.


	8. Chapter 8

Munching on a Cinnamon Bunny, Gohan walked alongside Loox and Snowy through the underground tunnels. They were taking the underground path to avoid the townspeople. Using the water troughs inside the tunnel, Gohan washed himself of the spaghetti all over his mouth and hands. He frowned at the sauce mixing with the crystal clear water. He befouled the water.

Loox turned around to watch the frowning boy. "What's wrong, Gohan?"

The boy snapped up at that, flicking the water on the floor absently. "Oh, um. Nothing."

The horned monster frowned, but followed Snowy to the exit. Loox considered Gohan his friend, but after the fight with the royal guardsmen… No. The horned monster would worry about that some other time. He would confront Gohan about that bloodlust later.

Emerging from the tunnel, Snowy pointed to their left. "When I ran away from home, I came from there. Waterfall's just over there, then Hotland, then the Capital."

Loox and Gohan nodded and followed Snowy. As they walked, they could see two figures. Gohan smiled, recognizing their silhouettes. "Mister Papyrus! Mister Sans!" The boy waved at them

Gohan ran in front of Snowy to meet them, only to stop short of Papyrus' determined expression. Sans' eyes were glued to Papyrus. It was too far away to tell, but Gohan thought that Sans' smile was even wider than usual.

"HUMAN."

Chara emerged from Gohan's head. Gohan would have yelped in surprise if it was not for Chara holding their index finger in front of their mouth. "Shut up, idiot."

"ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELING LIKE THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER'S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL. THESE FEELINGS… THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW! I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO FEEL THAT WAY. AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT."

Gohan nodded in understanding, much to the confusion of Chara, Loox, and Snowy.

"YOU SURROUND YOURSELF IN FRIENDS, GOOD ONES EVEN. I PITY YOU, LONELY HUMAN. ON A SCALE OF ONE TO ME, THEY RATE A MEASLY SEVEN AT BEST!"

Loox and Snowy glanced at each other in confusion. Did they just get insulted?

"WORRY NOT! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPRUS, WILL BE YOUR…"

Papyrus' silhouette paused.

"…NO… NO! THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND!" He pointed at Gohan. "YOU ARE A HUMAN!"

Gohan looked at him with confused, wide eyes. "You mean… we're not already friends?" Gohan ignored Chara's hysterical laughter.

Papyrus' silhouette folded his arms, his cape blowing in the wind. "YOU… YOU… YOU ARE RIGHT. I WOULD BE FOOLISH TO DENY MY FEELINGS OF FRIENDSHIP WITH YOU."

Sans tore his eyes off of Papyrus and set them on Gohan. He shrugged. Papyrus continued. "BUT STILL, I MUST FUFILL MY DESTINY! MY DREAM! I MUST CAPTURE YOU AND SECURE MYSELF A POSITION IN THE ROYAL GUARD! NO MATTER HOW HARD IT MAY BE FOR BOTH OF US, WE MUST HAVE A TEARFUL, GLORIOUS BATTLE. YOU FACE THE GREAT PAPYRUS! AND HIS UNHELPFUL BROTHER SANS."

"yo."

Gohan felt his soul escape his body again, the two skeletons blocking the way.

"NOW HUMAN, IT WILL BE TWO ON TWO! CHOOSE YOUR PARTNER!"

Gohan turned to Loox and Snowy. How could he choose just one of them? The boy pondered for a moment. Loox might still be exhausted from the previous fight. Not to mention that Loox had been giving him strange looks ever since. Gohan pulled on Snowy indicating that he was his choice.

"M-Me? Really? I thought… after I ran away…"

"Don't be silly Snowy, we're friends!"

Snowy's eyes lit up, then nodded energetically. Gohan understood that Snowy would appreciate a game with Papyrus and Sans more than Loox anyway. Loox even looked relieved that he wasn't chosen.

Loox waved at Gohan. "Well friend, I will sit this out and watch. Have fun." The one eyed creature strode his way out of the arena. Finding a safe location to be out of the action, the sharp toothed monster sat down with Gohan's pack. Withdrawing the spaghetti, he watched the two sides eye each other with determined expressions, minus Sans.

"EXCELLENT, THEN LET US BEGIN!"

Gohan stared at the two skeletons, they seemed to be giving Gohan the first move. He felt Chara's thoughts in his head. "Maybe you're not as dumb as I thought, picking the stronger of the two. But before I praise you, let me guess, you don't want to hurt them?"

Gohan inwardly nodded, much to Chara's disgust. "It'd be so much easier to just blow them away, dusting them. Curious, you always choose the harder of the paths. Well, right now you're fighting against a skeleton that wouldn't hurt a fly, so let's try to win this without hurting him. You think you can do that?"

"But how, Chara?" Gohan said, ignoring the homicidal statements of the ghost residing in his mind space.

"There's always a way, consider this your tutorial. Everyone's different. Remember how you won over your Loox friend or that Snowdrake guy."

Gohan wondered for a moment. All it took for Loox was to not pick on him, and he laughed at Snowy's attempts at jokes. What would it take for Sans and Papyrus to not fight him?

Respect… Recognition? Was that what Papyrus wanted?

"Mister Papyrus!"

"NYEH? WHAT IS IT HUMAN?"

"I… think you're really cool."

"NYEH?!"

"Yeah! Um… can we be friends? Maybe?"

Papyrus, flustered, attempted to compose himself. "W-WELL. I DID SAY I HARBORED FEELINGS OF FRIENDSHIP FOR YOU SO…. YES. I ACCEPT. WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY FRIENDS. NYEH HEH HEH!"

Gohan smiled, but then watched as Papyrus flung three slow moving bones at him. His soul floated out of the way and he side stepped them. Sans shot out an even slower moving bone alongside his brother's. As expected, Snowy had no problem dodging them either.

"SANS! ARE YOU EVEN TRYING?!"

"yep."

Gohan's mind raced. They were waiting for him again. Snowy wanted to coordinate an attack or something.

Chara groaned inwardly. "Oh my God, he wants to be in the royal guard, Gohan. Say something to that effect."

Straining to form together the words, Gohan sputtered out. "I think… you'll make an awesome member of the Royal Guard!"

Papyrus nearly fell over at the sudden praise. "R-REALLY?! YOU MEAN IT?! I MEAN, OF COURSE I WOULD! AFTER I CAPTURE YOU, I'LL BE THE NEWEST MEMBER!" He sent out another three bones at Gohan that were again easily dodge-able. Sans set out two bones this time, he must be exerting himself more and more.

"He's so EASY, we could probably hit him ONCE and it'd be over." Chara whined. Gohan ignored that again, he strained. Thinking back on Papyrus, what were some of his dreams? What was what he wanted…?

Snowy pat Gohan. "Hey Gohan, we're gonna have to go on the offensive, we can't keep dodging forever."

Whining, the boy nodded. As if on cue, Snowy launched several disks at Sans and Papyrus, both of whom masterfully dodged away. Gohan was surprised that Sans could move that fast.

"NYEH! AN EXCELLENT ATTACK, SNOWY! NOW, BEHOLD THE BROTHER'S BLUE ATTACK!"

Sans and Papyrus both held up an arm. After a moment, several light blue undodgeable bones manifested themselves. Not knowing what to do, Gohan steeled himself for the pain.

Nothing happened.

"NYEH HEH HEH! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT!? YOU'RE BOTH BLUE NOW!"

Snowy had some sort of blue outline covering him. Rapidly shaking his head, he breathed out. "I can't… move left and right!"

"PRESS Z TO JUMP!"

Snowy jumped in place, then moved up and down. "G-Gohan! What about you?!"

The boy only now realized that while he hadn't turned blue, his pink soul did. It too could only jump and move up and down.

"THE SKELETON BROTHER'S BLUE ATTACK! NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE LIGHT BLUE ATTACKS!"

Gohan saw a slow moving bone approach him. Not knowing what else to do, he jumped over it with his body, followed by his soul.

"VERY GOOD! NOW LET'S TRY SOMETHING HARDER!"

Snowy and Gohan were forced to dodge several flurries of bones. They dodged them all, but there were some close calls. Once, Gohan felt that his soul was going to connect to one of Papyrus' bones, but then his soul was moved away sharply. Nobody but him noticed, though.

No matter what Gohan said to the brothers, they continued attacking, but eventually, they stopped.

"NYEH… THEY'RE GOOD, BROTHER."

"yeah. as expected, bro."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SANS?"

"heh. it only makes sense that your rival and friend would be strong enough to match you. that's all."

Papyrus pondered on Sans' words for a moment.

"ONCE AGAIN, YOU ARE RIGHT BROTHER. WOWIE, YOU'VE BEEN RIGHT SURPRISINGLY OFTEN! ARE YOU OKAY?"

"should be."

"OKAY. LET'S GIVE THE HUMAN A DOSE OF OUR BROTHERS' SPECIAL ATTACK!"

Sans took both of his hands out of his pockets. "alright bro, im ready."

Papyrus pointed at Gohan. "HUMAN! ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE? I WILL NOT HOLD BACK!"

Nodding, Gohan readied himself. Surprisingly, he felt his soul float up, renewed with a pink glow. Snowy too was freed from the Jump Mode.

Two massive canine-like skulls manifested themselves above both Sans and Papyrus. Papyrus jumped up high, landing on his creation. Sans just sort of dropped on top of his. Both Gaster Blasters began charging an ultra-powerful burst of energy. The low rumble of the sheer force being gathered was deafening. Loox had retreated farther away, as his instincts told him that the surrounding area wouldn't last much longer.

The tall skeleton shouted above the noise. "BEHOLD! THE BROTHERS SPECIAL ATTACK! HUMAN! IF YOU SURVIVE THIS, I WILL DECLARE YOU THE VICTOR!" The shorter skeleton was shrugging, winking at the two enemy combatants from up high.

Paralyzed, he couldn't move. Gohan muttered something under his breath, to no one in particular. "…help me."

"I'll take over." Chara offered their spectral hand to the awed boy. Smiling, they added in cheerfully, "what's the worst that could happen?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Experimenting on not using the natural fonts. Let me know if you prefer it like this, or would want me to switch back to using the appropriate fonts. (Papyrus for Papyrus, Sans for Sans, etc.)


	9. Chapter 9

They were so high up. Papyrus glanced at his brother on top of the construct. They had both manifested their largest and most powerful blasters in order to match the impressive human. Each one was roughly the size of their garage, and packed enough raw magic to level the surrounding area. Was this perhaps overkill?

Papyrus shook his head at the thought. Nonsense. This human had persevered through every one of his obstacles up till now. He had excused his last barbaric puzzle due to its straightforward lack of class, not because the human wouldn't have been able to get around it. Therefore, it's only right to honor the human with this particular attack. This attack, which Sans and Papyrus both took the time to master in an effort to have an ultra-cool brother attack, would the human be able to overcome it?

He was sure of it. He believed in the human. So too did his brother, he could simply tell.

"HERE IT COMES, HUMAN!"

The skeleton brothers first let loose a scatter spray of bones, blue and white alike. Sans was in charge of the white bones while the tall skeleton took care of the blue bone barrage.

He had noticed the human's demeanor had changed. Their soul had turned a deeper shade of red too. What impressed Papyrus the most, however, was the fact that not a single bone of their blue and white barrage landed a hit. This didn't give Papyrus a sense of disappointment however, this fueled the skeleton, giving him a surge of excitement. The human moved at the appropriate times and dodged them all.

"SANS! PHASE TWO!"

The blasters charged with intense energy, engulfing the area with a shower of magical bullets. The human was dodging each bullet with the same speed and precision as one would have in order to dodge rain. Papyrus had to hand it to the human, they were displaying a level of skill that even Undyne didn't have when it came to evading magical attacks. This dispelled any and all doubts that they couldn't handle this.

They both pointed to their target, and the Gaster Blasters each let loose a radical beam that converged into one. Upon merging, they engulfed the human in bright orange, light blue, and white. Even Papyrus couldn't tell the exact pattern once they let loose. The blasters, now out of power having been fully used up, began to descend. The smoke began to clear, the human's silhouette was standing. Still standing after that? Well then! Now for the finale!

The skull shaped platforms they stood on vanished from existence. Both brothers landed gracefully side by side to each other standing on the cold frozen ground that used to be covered in snow. Papyrus produced a bone hammer, made of a long thin white bone with a thick shorter bone and turned to Sans, who widened his grin and shrugged. With a strong whack, Papyrus hit Sans in a way to make his older brother spin like a top. Jumping on top of his brother and holding the bone hammer out, they spun around the dust covered arena wildly. The outstretched hammer was spun with them, their brother tornado was indeed a forced to be reckoned with! Papyrus felt as though he connected with the human at least twice, he was sure.

Eventually, Sans stopped spinning and fell over. Papyrus landed on the snow and fell onto his butt, next to the equally exhausted Sans. The snow and dust rained down, they had definitely disfigured the path to Waterfall for sure.

What was left of the snow and dust had cleared, revealing the human in not too terrible of shape. The smiling child approached them slowly, being followed by the red heart. Papyrus cackled loudly. "WELL DONE, HUMAN, YOU WIN!" With that, the tall skeleton rocked himself onto his back and laid on the snow next to his brother.

* * *

There had been no strong intent. Yes, the raw magic had cleared away the snow covering the area as well as some of the frozen ground beneath the snow leaving only the sturdy rock underneath the ground where they all stood. They had been surprised when the blast that they had no earthly chance of dodging had only brought them to half health, and even more surprised when getting smashed in the soul and face with a bone hammer felt like getting knocked down with a giant inflatable mallet. Had they had murderous intentions, those skeleton brothers would have been the end of them.

Now, Sans and Papyrus down for the count. It'd be best to kill them while they had the chance.

Chara stood in front of Papyrus. What feasible way is there kill him before the other interfered? What about the boy, Gohan, who was now jabbering about how great they were for dodging all of the attacks? Ah, yes. Of course.

The tall skeleton gave a cheerful cackle. "A CONGRADUATORY HUG? WELL! HOW COULD I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DENY YOU?"

Chara embraced the skeleton. He was light. Brittle even. They could snap him in half like a twig. The child's soul pulsed softly as Chara carefully constricted the skeleton more and more.

"NYEH… GETTING A LITTLE BIT TIGHT THERE."

They couldn't help but betray a grin. They tightened the taller skeleton even more. Gohan didn't notice a thing, he was just pleased that they appeared to be making nice. That boy is an idiot. Once they finished dusting the tall one, they'd skewer the shorter one before the boy could stop them. They were too dangerous to let live. They hugged Papyrus tighter still. The skeleton's bones creaked, and Papyrus let out a pained sound, muttering "HUMAN…" over and over.

How amusing.

What the hell?

An instant ago, Chara had the skeleton in their hands. Their hands weren't dusty. They looked up. Papyrus was now safely tucked away a few yards away. In front of Chara however stood the shorter, hoodied skeleton. His pupils were gone, and that damnable smile was still plastered on his face. They rose to their feet. Gohan questioned them. They ignored the boy's rambling. This comedian…

Both Chara and Sans stared at each other silently. Their seemingly blank expressions were telling enough to have an entire conversation without needing to exchange a single word.

Intriguing. It would seem like an adjustment of procedure is in order.

Without acknowledging the boy and ignoring his questions, they relinquished control of the body.

* * *

Gohan blinked, his pink soul withdrawing into his body. He approached Sans, whose pupils had returned. The boy glanced at Papyrus, he found that Loox had joined Papyrus.

"Mister Sans, what's going on?"

The stout skeleton closed his eyelids. "nothing much kiddo." he gave the boy a wink. "but hey, good job on getting past our special attack there. you did good."

The boy frowned. Feeling his guilt in taking credit for Chara's actions. He wanted to tell Sans about Chara. He thought about it, and Chara didn't interfere, even though Gohan knew Chara could hear his thoughts. Did he somehow gain their permission of outing them?

Chara's flat voice answered that question, "No." Darn it.

Sans pat Gohan on the head. The boy jumped in response. "s'alright kid. tell you what, how about you stay with me and pap for a while. what do you think?"

The boy protested immediately. "But. I need to get back home, my mommy and daddy…"

Sans' eye-sockets hooded, his kind smile widening. "it's alright kid, trust me. If anything happens, you can pin the blame on me." He gave the kid a friendly wink.

Gohan wanted to object further, but felt like it was no use. He should have left a day ago. How long would be stuck here?

He watched Sans help Papyrus up. Papyrus was rubbing his ribs in a soothing motion. Had Chara hurt him there, or were the attacks he used taking his toll on him? His stomach sank at the possibility of his partner trying to squeeze Papyrus to death. He decided not to ask.

Loox followed the skeleton brothers, keeping his distance from Gohan. Loox didn't even look at him.

The boy followed them quietly, unsure what had just happened right infront of him, being ignored by his head mate Chara.

He walked past a shadow. Glancing around to find the source of the shadow, he found Snowy flying overhead, flapping his wings frantically. Gohan gaped at him. "How did you get up there Snowy? I thought you didn't know how to fly."

"I LEARNED!" Said the distraught bird, flapping his wings wildly. "DON'T KNOW HOW TO LAND!"

Once Snowy flew over some snow, the bird came crashing down. Then, one after another, they all entered the skeleton brother's house. Papyrus left his helpers' support and sat down on his couch, still rubbing his ribs. Gohan cast him a curious look. He wasn't angry, sad, or melancholy. He seemed completely chipper.

"NYEH? IS SOMETHING WRONG, HUMAN?" Papyrus called, in a confused voice.

Sans withdrew some chairs from the kitchen. He put one in front of the TV, one to the left of the couch and another to the left of the TV. Together, it was a little circle of chairs. The shorter skeleton plopped alongside Papyrus.

"hey guys, take a seat. i think we should have a chat."

Gulping, Gohan took the chair directly in front of the brothers. Snowy to his left, Loox to his right. Sans and Papyrus directly infront of him. The boy fidgeted uncomfortably. Papyrus seemed confused as to what was going on, as was Snowy. Loox however, seemed preoccupied, chittering his teeth. Sans wore his same expression as usual.

"let's begin then folks." The shorter skeleton said. All eyes were on him. "so let's address the elephant in the room first. kid, you've got a problem."

Snowy, Papyrus, and Gohan jumped. Loox stopped chittering. Snowy piped up. "But Mister Sans, he looks alright."

Sans closed his eyesockets and folded his arms. "within the last hour, the kid's tried to murder two people."

The boy nearly fell over. Papyrus nearly jumped. Instead, he stared at his brother, hand still on his ribs. "PERPOSTEROUS! AN HOUR AGO HE WAS WITH US, AND COMPLETEING OUR PUZZLES! WHO COULD HE HAVE TRIED TO KILL, SANS?"

Loox answered in his stead. "N-No, Papyrus. It's true. He… he saved me. But then he… he almost killed one of the guard dogs."

Snowy shook his head in a mix of disbelief and anger. "Hey hey HEY, man! You guys were fighting the royal GUARD, they wanted to kill HIM. What are the COLD hard facts about that fight besides just that?"

Gohan whimpered as Loox roared angrily with the teenaged bird. "The facts are that he climbed on top of the female dog, s-sat on her, and then nearly I-IMPALED her."

Snowy faced Gohan in shock. "No way dude, you did that?"

Silence. Gohan couldn't say a word. Chara loomed over him, forbidding him to participate.

Sans continued, he looked away. "don't think i need to explain the second event. the kid nearly dusted my brother via hug."

Papyrus rose this time, furious. "SANS! IT WAS JUST A HUG. THERE WAS NO MALICIOUS INTENT!"

Sans gave a small sigh. "pap…"

"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! THE HUMAN HAD NO REASON TO DO SUCH A THING!"

Loud chattering could be heard from Loox. All eyes were on him. "Tall Skeleton Papyrus, Gohan did indeed try to kill you. He smiled as your bones creaked. I saw it with my very eye."

Papyrus stomped the ground angrily. "NO NO NO! THE HUMAN… THE HUMAN…! HE WOULDN'T."

"Dude, why don't you ask him yourself?"

Papyrus turned to Snowy, then at Gohan. All eyes were on Gohan.

Silence. The only sounds that could be heard from Gohan were quiet sobs.

"HUMAN…"

Sans clapped. "alright, alright. come on guys, the kid's alright."

Loox fidgeted in his chair, grumbling. "I want to think that. He was… he is so kind. Why must he kill?"

"heh yeah. it's always something, right? kid's funny, kind, and even polite. he just can't shake that nasty murder habit."

Gohan held onto himself. Tears overflowed his eyes. True anguish was on his face, being whispered by Chara to not incriminate them. The boy just wanted to be friends with everyone and go home… Why did he give them control again?

Sans cleared his throat. "onto the real problem. the kid's not completely in control."

All eyes, even Chara's, were on Sans now. Gohan too had stopped crying. Chara's spectral mouth had dropped a little.

"so, human souls look pretty different. if you ever see the ones asgore's got, they're all different colors. they generally stay one color forever unless a monster uses their magic on them. kid… your soul changes color when you fight, on its own. even in a world full of monsters and magic, that's pretty creepy."

Sans stretched his legs, as he had everyone's attention. "besides the kid suddenly becoming a dodging master when his soul changes color, his expression…" His pupils disappeared as he stared directly into Gohan's eyes. The boy flinched uncomfortably. "changes too. i've seen the other one, totally different. so kid, got something to say to us? is this a voluntary thing, or is this something else?"

Gohan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He flinched slightly. He heard Chara's hissing. "Lie. LIE. Tell them you're under full control."

The other people in the circle of chairs began calling his name, asking him to tell them what's going on. No, it was pleading. Loox was pleading him for information, to have Sans' suspicions confirmed. He wanted to tell them, he opened his mouth to talk.

Chara's fury broke. "If you tell them about me, I won't be your friend anymore, you insect! I thought you said you'd help me in whatever way you could!" The fallen child folded his arms. "I'm ashamed I ever trusted you."

Gohan shut his mouth quickly before any sound came out. What could he do? He promised… but he didn't want to lie to his friends. Chara was his friend too, his partner. He was Chara's partner. Tears rolled down his cheeks. The tears prompted Snowy, Papyrus, and Loox to question Gohan more. The pressure was unreal. Sans tried to calm them down, but to no avail.

The boy did what any four year old would do under all that pressure. He cried.

Then he ran out of the house, away from all of them. Despite his friends' cries to stop, he continued to run. His destination was unclear, he dodged through several trees and eventually stopped at a clearing. He sat and sobbed under a particularly large tree.

* * *

Chara hovered over the crying boy. He didn't obey them. And for that they decided not to console the small crying child. Let him cry until he's a dry husk. Among the emotions Chara felt, spite was the strongest out of all of them.

Eventually however, the spite died down. The boy wasn't a total failure however, he had kept his mouth shut and didn't sell them out. They had to at least give him that much. Maybe they had been too harsh on this four year old. The fact that he'd flee from his friends just to protect Chara and not to betray anyone... it touched them right in the ghostly heart. If such a thing exists.

"Gohan… I didn't mean what I said to you."

The boy paused his sobbing momentarily, and was genuinely making an effort to be silent while Chara spoke. Another quality that Chara found appealing to the child.

"You are… a good partner. I don't think my old partner would have defended me like that. Push come to shove, he was a crybaby and would admit all our wrongdoings…"

The spectral child found themselves sitting next to Gohan. The crying boy had stopped completely, sniffling the final remnants of his sobs. He seemed comforted sufficiently, there was no need to continue.

And yet there was a desire to continue.

"I'm sorry. You're not an insect. You're mine."

The ghostly child pat Gohan on the head tenderly.

The boy at last responded. "T-thank you. I'm okay. Thank you…"

Chara smiled to themselves. They stopped patting Gohan. They knew eventually they'd be located. Eventually the truth would come out about them. They should have really expected this to happen, even Asriel wouldn't have been able to keep this secret. If it must come out, the boy must understand that their safety comes first, and as long as that could be assured, well. Even if they outran their problems, in order to properly provide themselves insurance, they needed this child to understand.

"Gohan, you are on my side, right?"

The boy eyed the ghostly child curiously. Their expression wasn't cold, kind, or harsh, but one of seeking answers pleadingly. He nodded at them.

"Promise me one more thing then."

Gohan looked down. He muttered his question, "What is it?"

"Look at me." Instinctively, Gohan obeyed and their eyes met. Chara stared into Gohan's eyes long and hard. The boy winced at the intensity of their gaze, but dared not break it. "Protect me, okay?"

The robed boy gulped. "O-Okay…"

Chara's eyes narrowed. "That means, make sure that no matter what, you'll make sure I'm safe." The boy nodded. "That also means… ugh." The ghostly child broke the gaze and stared at the ground instead. "Against my better judgement… I'm trusting you with… me. So do what you want, and I'll protect you too, okay?"

Gohan nodded enthusiastically. "Alright!"

They hoped they wouldn't regret allowing themselves to be vulnerable to a person again. Even if their time was already done, they wouldn't want to face any kind of human exorcist in the future.

"Chara…"

The ghostly child raised a ghostly eyebrow. "What is it?"

The boy poked his two index fingers together meekly. "Can you… too? Can you stop trying to kill people?"

They glared at the child. "I will do whatever is necessary to get what we want, Gohan. That includes eradicating the enemy." The boy winced at their harsh words. Chara sighed, relaxing their face. "Alright, as long as they're not trying to kill us. It's kill or be killed, but if we form a conglomerate, then I'll have little reason to kill them.

Gohan's eyes lit up. Chara shot him a warning glare. The boy laughed meekly, causing their glare to break. Damned kid.

They sat in silence together for a while. Chara wondered if it was a good idea to suggest to return to the comedian and that other tall forgettable guy's house. The thought made Chara ill. To rely on the boy was one thing, but to have additional monster allies? However, their powers were rare. Almost as rare as the boys. They'd make terrible enemies, but Gohan seems to have won them both over. Perhaps they'd be better off being powerful allies. It'd be a risk they'd have to take.

A small bulge in the snow began to form. Chara and Gohan eyed it carefully. Eventually it popped, and the creature causing the bulge emerged. It was a smiling flower.

"Howdy!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter spoilers: Not Waterfall!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When last we left off, a friendly flower said 'howdy' to a little boy. Little did the flower know, Chara the friendly ghost is also present.

To get the most out of this timeline, it's sometimes worth directly interacting with the events. Not to turn it towards one way or another; that would be after witnessing what occurs naturally. However, in order for certain wheels to turn, a slight push is what's needed for things to be interesting. Now that Flowey had a new plaything, he wondered what dialogue and events he can wring out of him before he tires of him too.

How long would it take for him to grow bored of the boy? Papyrus took a long time. Several scenarios, dates, tortures, and heartbreaks came from that skeleton. Perhaps Gohan would reveal his secrets to his supposed strength? As long as he had the power of SAVE neatly in his figurative pocket, he could toy with the boy as long as he wanted. So what if he could push the cow through a stone wall? Sans could incinerate him all he wanted, but in the end, it would be Flowey that reigns supreme.

Speaking of Sans, it's quite auspicious that the resets are seemingly infinite. The amount of times that the sub-monster reprobate caused Flowey to reset is staggering. Surely it's hit the five digit mark by this point. Not that it mattered enough to keep count in the first place. At one point, however, back before he had stopped viewing monster-kind as "people" and started viewing them as "things", they had been friends, once. If anything, Sans had taken just as long as Papyrus in terms of entertainment value. No, it wasn't the jokes that brought the two together. If anything it turned Flowey off, he had never understood how the infernal skeleton was so popular with his stupid gags.

It was his intelligence and his analytical gaze that caught Flowey's attention. Sans had so much knowledge that Flowey could never truly grasp. Not for lack of trying, but Sans was just another kind of mind.

He had helped all the denizens of the Underground with all of their problems. Every single denizen except for one. In another time line, when Sans still regarded Flowey as a friend, he had shown him the machine.

"I'm sorry, Sans. I just can't make heads or tails of this thing."

Flowey was being carried by Sans in a flowerpot. They were in the basement of the skeleton's house, and the flower was wrapping his vines over the machine. Upon seeing it the first time, it was apparent that it was completely broken. However, Flowey had been able to fix many broken appliances. Working with Doctor Alphys had given him a lot of mechanical experience. Reverse engineering some of the human crap took time and smarts, and after a few years Flowey could fix even the most complex human contraption that fell down here.

This wasn't a human contraption at all, however.

He had heard the skeleton heave a small sigh. It ate at Flowey, knowing that he had failed. A reset wouldn't f ix this, and there aren't many things a reset can't fix. Flowey couldn't even tell what the hell this thing was supposed to do.

"eh, i suppose it was too much to hope for, yeah?"

Flowey retracted his vines and sighed as well. "I mean, it's not like this is it. I could find something out later, we could fix this… thing. Whatever it is."

The skeleton had grinned wider and gave a quick shrug. "eh, _forgeddaboudit_. hey, let's get a bite to eat. grillbys okay?"

"Sure."

He had never found out anything about that machine. A long while after that, Flowey had begun entertaining himself with torturing the denizens of the underground instead of fixing their problems. At first it was curiosity, then it was for his own pleasure. Oddly enough, the first time seeing a monster fall over backwards in shock and then disintegrate into dust brought him the same amount of pleasure as giving that very same monster their favorite gift. The only difference was that this feeling was fresh. Later still, when Flowey mused to himself about that machine he couldn't fix, he wondered how it would feel if he broke it into a million pieces? Alas, he could never go back into that basement. The damnable skeleton shielded it, and he had never noticed.

The first time Flowey had ever seen the machine was also the last. Even if Flowey reset the timeline and went back to being his old Mary Sue persona, helping Papyrus get his hand out of the cookie jar and covered for one of Sans' shifts, Sans would never again invite Flowey into his basement. Somehow, even after the resets, Sans knew. No, that wasn't quite right. Sans didn't know a damn thing, nobody except Flowey remembered the resets. The real answer was creepier. Sans found out just by looking at Flowey's face. After his first sadistic escapades, Sans could tell just from Flowey's expression just what magnitude of cruelty the flower had caused, and to whom. In fact, after a certain point, the skeleton had begun killing him on sight. Of course, this was when Flowey was younger and inexperienced.

It didn't take Flowey long to be able to mask himself from Sans' gaze. Well, as long as he hadn't done anything incriminating upon first meeting the bastard.

Enough about the hated skeleton. Even with him interfering with Flowey's plans, Sans had brought Flowey years of entertainment. Years of challenge. Still, that ended. Now he was just a headache.

The boy, Gohan. While the child is predictable as any child would be, under pressure it would appear that he is spontaneous. The boy singlehandedly defeats the canine unit and then goes in for the kill. The shock he felt when he saw that look Gohan's eyes had screamed bloodlust. Those are rare down here, what with everyone being exceptionally kind. Two instances he had watched that happen; one where he failed in killing the female mutt, and the second where he had Papyrus in a death lock. Constricting Papyrus to death was amusing, and it would have been a blast to have seen that in a third person view, but then Smiley Trashbag got in the way.

This child in front of Flowey had so much potential to bring him much entertainment. Flowey would hold off stealing his soul until he tired of the boy. How would the boy react to being betrayed? How would Gohan react to being forced to kill his best friend? To watching all of them die? Oh, oh. How would this four year old react to having all his friends leave him? The infinite number of possibilities that ran through Flowey's head made him giddy.

The first step to all this is to build the boy up, and then bring him crashing down.

* * *

Gohan crawled backwards desperately from the flower, recognizing him immediately as Flowey. Even though a day or two had passed, the unfriendliness was still fresh in his mind.

The flower huffed. "Come on now, kid. It's not like I'm here to kill you, I've got a message from Toriel."

The boy blinked in response and hesitated. Chara floated above him, listening intently. They only said to the frightened boy, "Tag me in when you want."

Gohan shook his head and spoke to the flower, "Don't you hate me?"

"A little." The flower said, bobbing from side to side playfully. "If I were completely honest, I like you more than I hate you though." The boy tilted his head in confusion at his response. Flowey suppressed his laughter, what an idiot. He continued, "I just can't understand you, boy. So that's why. Anyway, I'm helping Miss Toriel keep tabs on you so that you get out of the underground safe." He finished his sentence with a huge smile.

Curiously, the boy crawled forward. The gears in Gohan's head turned. This is the same person that called Miss Toriel an 'old hag', and that his suffering would bring him 'great amusement'. The boy gave the flower a dubious look. The flower held out a leaf hand to stop the boy from speaking.

"I know, I know. Why would I help after I was so mean? Well, I had a change of heart. I'm a good guy now." Flowey edged toward the boy with a meek expression. "I talked to Madam Toriel, and she made some convincing arguments. We're pals now." If the flower hadn't lied so blatantly in the past, it would have been hard to keep a straight face. He looked away. "So now I'm doing her a favor by making sure you're okay. Oh, and to give you this."

The flower burrowed into the ground, then a few moments later reemerged with a knapsack around its stem. "The damn thing is filled with delicious food. I'm kinda of jealous, smells good!" The boy approached him hesitantly. The flower retreated from the boy, knowing that it would be easier to recover the pack if Flower wasn't on top of it. It was funny, to watch Gohan fearfully picked up the sack. The boy was strong enough to survive on his own. If only his determination wasn't so weak, he'd be worth something.

Flowey coughed loudly to gain the attention of the insolent child rummaging inside the pack. "Toriel says to give her a call sometime. She misses you. I'll be seeing you later, okay?"

Gohan gave a shaky nod to the flower. When Flowey tunneled underground without so much as a goodbye, the boy ran to where the flower had stood and shouted into the little tunnel he withdrew into. "Wait! Darn it! Flowey! I'm sorry! I hope we can still be friends! Thank yoou!"

Flowey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, you too," he called back. He, of course, wasn't going to Toriel's just yet. The flower tunneled, circling around the boy to spy on them a little more before returning with his 'report'.

* * *

Chara hummed to themselves. They couldn't help but find something odd about the talking weed. It was almost as if they were toying with their boy. They had mentioned 'Miss Toriel' as well. That was the name of their adoptive mother. They cleared their throat.

"Partner."

Gohan carried the knapsack full of food to Chara and eagerly displayed the contents. The light in the boy's eye was dim compared to the shining treasure trove of food. These were all familiar foods that they had eaten in the past; the same foods that his adoptive mother had made. So the boy had made a relationship with her. They decided not to confirm it, as it would sparsely matter either way.

"Isn't it great? It smells so good, do you want to try some?" Gohan thought inwardly to his mind-mate. He then beckoned the ghost to take over his body.

Why? The boy hadn't even taken a bite himself yet. Still, he thinks of others before himself. Taking the boy's offer, Chara took possession of the body and bit into one of the chocolate muffins.

It was divine.

* * *

Papyrus wasn't the type to let their friend run off into the wilderness alone! Why, what would happen if one of the Canine Unit were to find him without a proper disguise?! Papyrus had not wasted a moment, and despite his brother's half-hearted protest, the tall skeleton took off into a sprint to find the boy. Little did Papyrus know, he went into the wrong direction! Well, once the future best member of the Royal Guard found out his folly, he chased the boy's tracks. He ran and ran, he ran so hard that he flew in the air like a majestic eagle. A jogging majestic eagle. If only he had brought his sweat bands!

From his birds eye view, he easily spotted the human. The boy was sitting down eating… eating a muffin? WHAT?

"WHAT?!"

Papyrus charged the human from high above the trees. He ran through a tree, dodging it so hard that both his body and the tree were unscathed despite Papyrus having gone through it. Some would call that a miracle, Sans would call it an extremely unlikely example of quantum tunneling, but in truth, it's just PAPYRUS!

"HUMAN! ARE YOU OKAY? AND CAN I HAVE ONE?"

Chara munched on their chocolate muffin. Taking a lingering look into the bag, they decided that they would make peace with the larger bone pile with a suitable offering. They tossed the skeleton a vanilla muffin, something they wouldn't even miss.

"WOWIE! THANK YOU! WHERE DID YOU GET THESE?!" The armored skeleton began eating the muffin as if he were a chipmunk.

Chara's annoyance grew. Couldn't he tell that they were eating? Swallowing their mouthful, they answered. "A talking golden flower gave it to me."

"OH! I HAVE A FLOWER FRIEND TOO! WHAT WAS HIS NAME…? FLOWERY?"

The possessed child ignored the skeleton and continued eating their muffin. They didn't have time for games. "Papyrus, can you carry me back to Sans house?" They said flatly, finishing their chocolatey treat.

"NYEH?" The skeleton then registered the question and his eye sockets shone. "WOWIE! YOU WANT ME TO CARRY YOU? THAT'S A BIT WEIRD… BUT OKAY!"

Chara nodded curtly as they lifted their arms into the air. Papyrus hesitantly picked the child up carefully and adjusted them into a piggyback position. After confirming that the human had a tight grip, Papyrus sprinted off back into his home, keeping to the ground this time.

* * *

Gohan floated alongside them. The boy opted to leave Chara alone in his body, hoping that it would improve their mood before they met back with their friends. He understood that even flying without a tangible body was neat, it lost its vanity pretty fast. How long had Chara been stuck like this?

Once they reached the skeleton dwelling, the boy heard Chara summoning him through their thoughts, requesting for the boy to take over. Obeying his partner, Gohan reentered his body as Papyrus was setting him down.

"Thank you, Mister Papyrus!"

"THINK NOTHING OF IT, HUMAN!"

Papyrus lead the way inside, Chara floating infront of them. Gohan closed the door behind him quietly, and walked in on the friends playing cards. The chairs had been put away, and now they sat in a triangle playing together on the floor.

"hey kid, hey pap," said Sans upon hearing the door silently click close, holding three cards in his hand. Gohan peaked at the other two. Snowy had only five cards, and Loox had… well. Loox had more than ten, Gohan was sure of that. There was a pile of cards in the middle of the three, all neatly arranged.

"SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"playing 'i doubt it'. c'mon pap, you love card games. it's best with more people."

"REDICULOUS! OUR HUMAN WAS IN A DIRE PREDICAMENT AND YOU PLAY CARDS INSTEAD OF LOOK FOR HIM?!" Papyrus said sternly, arms folded.

Loox placed one of his cards in the middle, and Sans swiftly placed his own card in the middle before replying. "the kid's strong enough to take on our special attack pap, he was fine, and he'd have come back."

The taller skeleton narrowed his eye sockets at the shorter skeleton. "YES... YOU HAVE A POINT... ANYWAY! CAN I GET IN ON THE NEXT GAME?"

"sure, kid you in?"

Gohan stammered for a bit, but agreed to the game.

Watching the remainder of the game, it seemed very simple. The aim is to get rid of all your cards by playing them to a discard pile. Since cards are played face down, giving players the option to lie about the cards they are playing, but if the lie is exposed they must pick up the pile. When Sans lost the rest of his cards, the other two continued playing to see who won second place. Sans explained to Gohan that on the table is a discard pile, which starts empty. A turn consists of discarding one or more cards face down on the pile, and calling out their names. The first player must discard Aces, the second player discards Twos, the next player Threes, and so on. After Tens come Jacks, then Queens, then Kings, then back to Aces of the next suit. At the end of the explanation was conveniently when Snowy had discarded his last card.

Sans grinned at Snowy's victory dance. "we stop till the first one wins, but sometimes it's fun to keep goin'. anyway, didja get all that kid?"

Gohan nodded, and sat down. They were back into a little circle again. He noticed the atmosphere was a lot lighter than when it was when he left. It seemed as though the group had given up interrogating him about Chara. Even if Gohan had permission to tell them of their existence, it wasn't something he wanted to do. It felt wrong.

Sans shuffled the cards expertly. The cards were in the air, left and right, behind him, and then finally neatly shuffled infront of him. He glanced at the players.

"so. how many people we got now?"

Papyrus cleared his throat. "TWO MORE THAN BEFORE, SO FIVE. THAT'S BASIC MATH, SANS," he scolded lightly.

Snowy and Loox glanced at each other nervously and knowingly. Gohan's eyes lingered to Sans', their eyes locked. Sans shrugged and grinned even wider.

"was just wonderin' is all. kid, did your friend want to play?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well Chara DO you want to play? Come on, don't be a sourpuss, BS is better with 6 people!
> 
> Next Chapter, Chara/Chara put on a disguise and sneaks into Grillbys to have a manly conversation with Sans. They might continue to neglect Toriel, who knows?


End file.
